States’ Human Rights Obligations in the Context of Climate Change: Guidance Provided by the UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies (May 2023)

As governments and intergovernmental organizations have recognized, climate change has adverse impacts on a wide range of human rights. Consequently, existing human rights obligations defined under legally binding treaties must inform climate action. These obligations require that climate policies effectively protect the rights of those most affected by the climate crisis, including by averting harm and preventing further threats through mitigation and the effective regulation of private actors. They also require that the design of these policies builds on the principles of non-discrimination and meaningful public participation. A growing number of national, regional, and international courts are being asked to review the compatibility of States’ climate policies in the context of these human rights obligations.

Human rights treaty bodies (HRTBs) — established to monitor the implementation of the United Nations human rights treaties — have a critical role to play to inform decision makers’ and other actors’ understanding of the scope of these human rights obligations in the context of climate change. During the past decade, these bodies have provided many valuable recommendations to States, illustrating the relevance of international human rights obligations in driving ambitious and just climate policies.

This Synthesis Note reviews the outputs adopted by HRTBs in 2022 with regard to climate change, complementing our 2022 Synthesis Note, which provided an overview of all relevant HRTBs outputs adopted from 2020 to 2021, and our 2020 Update reviewing developments of the previous year. This note describes the important role that the HRTBs have continued to play in 2022 to guide and inform States responses to climate change and also highlights some of the pressing issues that could benefit from more proactive engagement by HRTBs in the future so as to further articulate States’ existing human rights obligations related to key dimensions of climate policies.

Read the Synthesis Note. (En español aquí.)

Focused notes available below provide a more specific summary and analysis of the work of five treaty bodies with respect to States’ human rights obligations in the context of climate change in 2022.

Committee on the Rights of the Child: Synthesis of Statements on Climate Change	Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women: Synthesis of Statements on Climate Change	Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Synthesis of Statements on Climate Change	Human Rights Committee: Synthesis of Statements on Climate Change	Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination: Synthesis of Statements on Climate Change

Published May 3, 2023.