The Impact of Climate Change on Statelessness in the Southern African Region I. INTRODUCTION The 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons defines a stateless person as a person who is not considered a national by any state under the operation of law.1 International law contains various rights and instruments aimed at preventing and reducing statelessness. A failure by States Parties to comply with international obligations to address statelessness and grant nationality often leads to irregular citizenship laws, which in turn contribute to statelessness.2 Khan refers to childhood statelessness and rightly points out that statelessness is not something that is caused or deserved by the individuals affected.3 For example, children do not have a choice when it comes to their place of birth, the actions of their parents, the identity of their parents, or the actions of the states.4 In Africa, the nationality status of a significant number of Africans is questionable because their nationalities are doubtful or in dispute.5 Without an official connection between an individual and a state, such an individual has neither protection from, nor responsibilities to, the state in which they live.6 Without an official connection of a bond between the state and individuals, individuals are not recognised by any state as their nationals, rendering them stateless. The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) affirms that all individuals are born equal in dignity and human rights.7 Article 15 of the UDHR provides that the right to a nationality includes the right not to be arbitrarily deprived of one’s nationality. Other international human rights instruments such as the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)8 and the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) refer to the realisation of human rights that includes the right to a nationality.8 A topic receiving increasing attention is the relationship between climate change and statelessness. In the words of McAdam, climate change and its effects on human beings are both legally and conceptually inconsistent.10 This article examines the extent to which stateless persons who are permanently displaced across borders due to the impacts of climate change in Southern Africa are protected by the current international and national regional frameworks addressing statelessness UN General Assembly, Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons 28 September 1954, Art 1(1). See María José Recalde Vela How Far Has the Protection of the Right to Nationality under International Human Rights Law Progressed from 1923 until the Present Day? (unpublished LLM thesis, Tilburg University, 2014) at 10. 3 Fatima Khan ‘Exploring childhood statelessness in South Africa’ (2020) 23 PELJ at 5. 4 Ibid. 5 Aimée-Noël Mbiyozo ‘Statelessness: An old problem with new threats’ Institute for Security Studies (ISS), 13 November 2019, available at https://issafrica.org/iss-today/statelessness-an-old-problem-with-new-threats, accessed on 09 February 2022. 6 Hugh Massey ‘UNHCR and de facto statelessness’ UNHCR Legal and Protection Policy Research Series LPPR/2010/01 April 2010 at 3. 7 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948, Art 1. 8 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966, Arts 12(4) and 24. 9 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Art 1. See also the Declaration on the Human Rights of Individuals who are not Nationals of the Country in which They Live, adopted by UN General Assembly Resolution 40/144 of 13 December 1985. 10 Jane McAdam ‘Climate change displacement and international law: Complementary protection standards’ UNHCR Legal and Protection Policy Research Series at 8–9. 1 2 95