Human rights bodies increasingly call on States to address climate crisis, new report shows

As the climate crisis worsens, human rights bodies have increasingly recognised its impacts on human rights and called on States to fulfil their human rights obligations in the context of a changing climate, reveals a new report released today. 2019 brought a new wave of statements by human rights bodies, including a growing number of institutions who have not previously been active on the issue.

The report, States’ Human Rights Obligations in the Context of Climate Change – 2020 Update, details the human rights bodies’ growing engagement on climate change and how this engagement plays into efforts to hold governments accountable for failing to meet their obligations. Among the most notable climate-related statements last year, five human rights treaty bodies came together to issue a joint statement on human rights and climate change — a rare occurrence that indicates that climate change is an issue of growing concern for a wide range of human rights. Further, the Human Rights Committee issued a decision indicating that in cases of deportation to climate vulnerable countries, States must  consider the impacts of climate change on the right to life, and as the impacts of climate change worsen, it becomes more likely that States’ non-refoulement obligations will be triggered.

‘The climate crisis poses unprecedented threats to human rights, from the rights to life and health to the right to education. At a moment when individuals and groups most affected by the climate crisis are taking their governments to court for their role in climate impacts, human rights treaty bodies have an important role to play -  in providing guidance to States to ensure that they live up to their legal obligations to protect rights in the context of a changing climate — and in holding them accountable when they fail to do so,’ says Sébastien Duyck, Senior Attorney at the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL).

‘Climate change is a global issue but the impacts are felt disproportionately by poor and marginalised communities and those who have less capacity to adapt. The solutions are also global but some countries and actors have greater responsibility than others. The human rights treaty bodies are increasingly addressing climate change in their work and bringing a human rights approach to this global challenge, including by highlighting the experiences of different groups and the importance of equity. This publication analyses the work of the treaty bodies on climate change to assist States, advocates and policy-makers to understand States’ human rights obligations in the context of climate change’, says Lucy McKernan of the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR).

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Focused Notes are 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.

Notes for Editors:

Contact:

  • Sébastien Duyck, Senior Attorney, CIEL: sduyck@ciel.org

  • Lucy McKernan, Geneva Representative, GI-ESCR: lucy@gi-escr.org

Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL)

Since 1989, the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) has used the power of law to protect the environment, promote human rights, and ensure a just and sustainable society. CIEL is a non-profit organization dedicated to advocacy in the global public interest, including through legal counsel, policy research, analysis, education, training, and capacity building.

The Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR)

Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Gl-ESCR) is a non-governmental organisation that believes transformative change to end endemic problems of social and economic injustice is possible only through a human rights lens.

Articles / op-eds / press releases, PublicationGuest UserClimate change & human rights