A/HRC/56/47 internally displaced communities who are unable to return to their former homes because affected areas have become uninhabitable or too dangerous for human habitation or, such as in the case of sea level rise or certain landslides, have simply disappeared as a consequence of natural hazards and the negative effects of climate change. 16. Various terms are used to describe movements and settlement in the context of disasters and the adverse effects of climate change. “Planned relocations” and “resettlement” are often used interchangeably in scholarly literature and standards.12 In his 2024 report, the Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing used the term “resettlement” which “is understood as the relocation of a group of people, large or small, to a new location where they re-establish their habitual place of residence and rebuild their lives and livelihoods.”13 In its subsequent resolution 55/11, the Human Rights Council invited States and other stakeholders to contribute to the development of the guidelines on resettlement to be undertaken by the Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing. The Special Rapporteur remains available to contribute to these efforts. 17. For the purpose of the present report, the Special Rapporteur will use the term “planned relocation” as agreed upon by the States parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change,14 and used in the processes for the Framework Convention15 and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030. 16 States have also embraced this terminology outside the Framework Convention and Sendai processes.17 18. Planned relocation is thus understood in the present report as a planned process in which … groups of persons move or are assisted to move away from their homes or places of temporary residence, are settled in a new location, and provided with the conditions for rebuilding their lives. Planned relocation is carried out under the authority of the State, takes place within national borders, and is undertaken to protect people from risks and impacts related to disasters and environmental change, including the effects of climate change.18 Planned relocations may be preventive in anticipation of a disaster or responsive in the aftermath of a disaster,19 and establishing the conditions for relocated persons to rebuild their lives in the relocation area is the equivalent of facilitating the achievement of durable solutions for internally displaced persons.20 19. Like planned relocations, evacuations and evictions in the context of disasters and the adverse effects of climate change are movements of people that should only be carried out in exceptional circumstances and in full compliance with international human rights and humanitarian law.21 They differ, however, from planned relocations. Planned relocations are intended to be permanent, while evacuations are meant to be temporary. 22 In planned 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 4 Submission by David James Cantor. A/HRC/55/53, para. 6. Cancun Adaptation Framework (FCCC/CP/2010/7/Add.1, para. 14 (f)). FCCC/CP/2018/10/Add.1, decision 10/CP.24, annex. Para. 27 (k): “To formulate public policies, where applicable, aimed at addressing the issues of prevention or relocation, where possible, of human settlements in disaster risk-prone zones.” See https://forumsec.org/sites/default/files/2024-02/Pacific Regional Framework on Climate Mobility.pdf. Brookings, Georgetown University and UNHCR, Guidance for Protecting People from Disasters and Environmental Change through Planned Relocation. International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Law and Disaster Preparedness and Response: Multi-Country Synthesis Report (2019), p. 101; and submission by David James Cantor. Erica Bower and Elizabeth Ferris, “Planned relocations and durable solutions: learning from parallel conversations”, Researching Internal Displacement, 12 March 2024; and submission of David James Cantor. In situations of armed conflict, temporary evacuations for reasons related to the conflict are permitted only where the security of the civilians involved or imperative military reasons so require (Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, art. 49; and Protocol II Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 1949, art. 17 (1)). UNHCR, Global Protection Cluster Working Group, Handbook for the Protection of Internally