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Szablewska, Natalia
(2025).
URL: https://iasfm.org/iasfm2025/wp-content/uploads/sit...
Abstract
This presentation focuses on the circular relationship between climate change and modern slavery, which is often facilitated by and through forced migration, having a compounding effect on human rights of the affected individuals and communities. It proposes that effective humanitarian responses must address these interconnected crises with an integrated approach that combines immediate relief with long-term community resilience building.
According to the most recent estimates, modern slavery affects nearly 50 million people annually (ILO, Walk Free and IOM, 2022). Those on the move, in particular if they have unsettled legal status, are particularly vulnerable to the risk of modern slavery, which covers diverse forms of acute human exploitation, ranging from forced or bonded labour, human trafficking to forced marriage. Certain industries, such as agriculture, construction, manufacturing or fishing, have historically been at high risk of modern slavery throughout their operations and supply chains. These are also the industries that tend to be contributing disproportionately to environmental destruction and carbon emissions.
At the same time, climate-induced environmental changes drive forced migration and increase vulnerability to modern slavery (Boyd et al., 2018). It is now well-documented that climate change exacerbates vulnerabilities, leading to displacement and increasing the risk of individuals falling into modern slavery. As natural and human-made disasters, including conflicts (Szablewska, 2022b), and environmental stresses disrupt communities, they create conditions ripe for exploitation, trafficking and forced labour (Walk Free, n.d.; Szablewska, 2023, 2020). Yet, modern slavery also contributes to climate change by being a facilitator in labour provision for illegal practices, being it illegal logging in the Amazon rainforest (Francelino-Gonçalves-Dias and Mendonca, 2011; ILO, 2009), overfishing in Thailand (Marschke and Vandergeest, 2016; EJF, 2015) or child and debt-bonded labour brickmaking in Cambodia (Brickell et all., 2019). These practices are mutually destructive and exacerbate degrading and exploitative conditions that continue to fuel inequalities and environmental degradation. Consequently, modern slavery and climate change cannot be seen or studied as separate and distinct issues (Szablewska, 2022a; Bales and Sovacool, 2021).
This, however, poses a real challenge to humanitarian responses as the legal and policy landscapes of modern slavery and climate change management are largely fragmented and often operate in silos, hindering effective and coordinated action. There is, therefore, a need for a shift in humanitarian practice whereby strategies and interventions focus on addressing both climate-induced displacement and exploitation to enhance the resilience of communities to prevent exploitation and manage climate risks.
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)
