As governments and intergovernmental organizations have recognized, climate change has adverse impacts on a wide range of human rights. Consequently, States must uphold their existing human rights obligations defined under legally binding treaties in the context of climate change and climate policies. These obligations require that climate policies effectively protect the rights of those most affected by the climate crisis and that States take preventive steps to avoid the most dangerous levels of temperature increase. They also require that the design of these policies builds on the principles of non-discrimination and meaningful public participation.
Human rights treaty bodies (HRTBs) — established to monitor the implementation of the United Nations (UN) human rights treaties — have a critical role to play in further elaborating on the obligations of States to respect, protect, and fulfill human rights in the context of climate change. For more than a 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 provides an overview of States’ obligations under the different human rights instruments in the context of climate change, offering a compendium of the authoritative statements delivered by the human rights treaty bodies on these issues since 2008.
This Note contains three main sections: The first section reviews the role of the HRTBs in identifying and monitoring States’ obligations in the context of climate change, the second appraises the authoritative guidance produced by these bodies in 2019 – including in comparison with relevant work accomplished by the HRTBs previously, and the third section provides a summary of their key statements addressing issues related to emissions reduction, adaptation to climate impacts, procedural rights, and international cooperation.
Want to keep up-to-date? Sign up for updates. As UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies increasingly engage on issues related to the human rights implications of climate change and climate action, including by making recommendations to States regarding how to interpret their legal obligations in the context of climate change, we will provide periodic updates (ie. 4-6 updates annually) to keep you abreast of the latest relevant developments.
Focused Notes available below provide a more specific summary and analysis of the work of four treaty bodies with respect to States’ human rights obligations in the context of climate change in 2019.
|
The Convention on the Rights of Children and recommendations by the CRC Committee |
The Human Rights Committee and recommendations by the CCPR Committee |
||
