Understanding Climate Change & Human Rights

It is widely recognized that the climate crisis is going to have a significant effect on human rights. Climate change has been shown to exacerbate pre-existing inequalities and human rights challenges such as poverty, well-being, wealth inequality, gender relations, and many others. Vulnerable populations are affected by this first and the strongest. On this page we have compiled a few resources for you to learn more about what human rights are and how they are already affected by the climate crisis (and how they will continue to do so).

Quick Introduction

What exactly are human rights?

Human rights are often used as a moral argument, one with great normative strength. Certain human rights are even considered universal rights, meaning applying to all humans regardless of their cultural upbring or background. However, not all rights that many of us believe should be recognized human rights, are actually formally recognized as such by law. ‘Recognized by law’ means, written down and agreed upon by one’s state’s national legislature (such as the parliament), within regional groups of states, like the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, the American Convention on Human Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights, or agreed upon by the international community (i.e. meaning all UN member states had the chance to sign on to those agreements) such as International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.  Find more information on the provisions of the two Covenants here:

Unfortunately, often human rights are seen to be putting expensive obligations on states. For example, in order to ensure the right to health states must be providing accessible and quality health-care to all the citizens. Moreover, just because a child has the right to education does not in all states mean that children can actually attend school, nor does it mean that any parent/guardian of a child who is unable to attend classes could sue the state for violating the child’s right to education. 

We are not saying this to disillusion you. Human Rights are incredibly important. The international human rights regime constitutes a milestone of international collaboration. Human Rights Activists have accomplished a lot; legislative changes, individual cases and stories have been published and consequently have been decided in favor of those whose rights have been violated. Human rights claims often come with the strong connotation of moral authority. . 

You are already confused by the names of the different documents we have mentioned thus far. That precisely is the problem. There is a patchwork-quilt of human rights protections and obligations on states. There is a growing understanding by academics, legal experts, activists and diplomats of how climate change violates certain protected rights. What we need, is one authoritative, detailed and in-depth statement of what human rights obligations states have with regards to the climate crisis, also in relation to future generations.

We are writing this to say that some of the forces we are up against are big and critical. And we will only win this, if we are 101% correct on the nitty gritty legal facts of this campaign all the time. We hope that the explanations on this page can help you to navigate the human rights and climate change debate-sea more confidently. 

What rights are affected by climate change? 

  1. Many recognised human rights will be affected by climate impacts, such as floods, cyclones and droughts. 

  2. At the same time, many human rights are being violated or are at the threat of being violated when states engage in mitigation measures (i.e. measures responding to the challenge of reducing emissions). 

  3. Thirdly, many human rights are being violated or are at the threat of being violated when adaptation measures have to be taken. If a state has to resettle populations, because their lower-lying islands are already being flooded because of the rising sea levels, and those people are now being moved to higher grounds - these resettlement efforts are part of the governments adaptation strategy. If someone is being taken from their ancestors land, on which they were earning a living, and celebration rituals. festivities and traditional holidays - their rights are actively being violated. This is just one example of many. 

Professor David Boyd, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment, published a report in 2019 laying out some of the current and future impacts of the climate crisis on people’s ability to free and full enjoyment of their human rights including: Right to life, right to health, right to food, rights to water and sanitation, rights of the child, the right to a healthy environment and the right to equality and non-discrimination. 

[Find the report and Dr Boyd’s in-depth explanations here: https://undocs.org/en/A/74/161.] 

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Human Rights most affected

  • The right to life (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, ICCPR)

  • The right to self-determination (Article 1 of the UN Charter, and Art 1 of the ICCPR and ICESCR)

  • Right to development (Article 55 of the UN Charter, ICESCR and ICCPR, declaration on the Right to Development)

  • The right to food (UDHR, Article 11 of the ICESCR)

  • The right to water and sanitation 

    • “General Comment No.15 of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights articulates this right stating: “The human right to water entitles everyone to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic uses.” In its resolution 64/292, the General Assembly recognised “the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights.” The right to water and sanitation is also found in legal instruments such as the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), among others. Pursuant to General Comment 15, “States [sic] parties have to adopt effective measures to realize, without discrimination, the right to water.””

  • The right to health (Art 12 of the ICESCR)

  • The right to housing (Art 11 of the ICESCR)

  • The right to education (Art 13 of the ICESCR)

  • The right to meaningful and informed participation (ICCPR, Declaration on the Right to Development, CEDAW, CRPD, Art 19 of the ICCPR)

Read more on the intersection between human rights and climate change in this Submission of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change: https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/ClimateChange/COP21.pdf

Why integrate human rights in climate change-related actions? 

“Human rights are universal legal guarantees that protect individuals, groups and peoples against actions and omissions that interfere with their fundamental freedoms and entitlements. Human rights law obliges governments (principally) and other duty-bearers to respect, promote, protect and fulfil all human rights. Human rights are universal and are based on the inherent dignity and equal worth of all human beings. They are equal, indivisible, interrelated and interdependent, and cannot be waived or taken away. Furthermore, human rights are legally protected, and impose obligations in relation to actions and omissions, particularly of States and State actors. It is now beyond dispute that climate change caused by human activity has negative impacts on the full enjoyment of human rights. Climate change has profound impacts on a wide variety of human rights, including the rights to life, self-determination, development, food, health, water and sanitation and housing. The human rights framework also requires that global efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change should be guided by relevant human rights norms and principles including the rights to participation and information, transparency, accountability, equity, and nondiscrimination. Simply put, climate change is a human rights problem and the human rights framework must be part of the solution.”

— Submission of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change:

Key messages and demands from the above submission were:

  1. To mitigate climate change and to prevent its negative human rights impacts. 

  2. To ensure that all persons have the necessary capacity to adapt to climate change.

  3. To ensure accountability and effective remedy for human rights harms caused by climate change. 

  4. To mobilize maximum available resources for sustainable, human-rights-based development. 

  5. International cooperation. 

  6. To ensure equity in climate action. 

  7. To guarantee that everyone enjoys the benefits of science and its applications. 

  8. To protect human rights from business harms. 

  9. To guarantee equality and non-discrimination. 

  10. To ensure meaningful participation. 

International Recognition of this connection between climate change and human rights

Watch this video by Associate Professor of International Law Stephen Humphreys from the London School of Economics:

Why do we need international legal clarity on this?

Achim Steiner, Executive Director of UNEP, remarks “(...) While the United Nations and national governments acknowledge that climate change and the responses to it can impact on human rights , there is less agreement on the corresponding obligations of governments and private actors to address this problem.”8 This is due to the wide spectrum of rights involved, the nature of the climate crisis and the controversy around responsibility for causing it. An authoritative clarification of the ‘depth of obligations’ is needed.

Why do we need an Advisory Opinion to give us this legal clarity?

To answer this important question we offer verbatim quotations from the UN Human Rights Council report 41/39, issued June 2019:

“[T]ransformational action is urgent; human rights can and must be part of the solution. The delusion that climate change is really a technical issue, or solely a political matter, and that human rights law has only a minor role to play must be abandoned. The human rights community could play an important role clarifying the legal requirements around climate action, facilitating the participation of affected communities, ensuring that strategies employed for attaining targets and adapting to climate change comply with human rights law, and advocating for their implementation and enforcement through both litigation and traditional human rights advocacy.

Human rights law requires a remedy for violations, and climate change is no different. Given what is now known about the widespread harm and human rights impact of either 2 or even 1.5 °C of warming, it is also necessary to determine what measures States must take to provide the required remedies for the all but certain human rights violations that climate change will bring. Human rights actors have an important role in identifying what such remedies will require.

Human rights treaty bodies and others should weigh in on questions that are already hotly contested in courthouses and parliaments, including how human rights obligations can be used to define States’ legal duties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions individually and at a global level, what are the minimum actions that States must take in line with the latest scientific guidance, and whether human rights law gives rise to a certain threshed of action below which a State is in violation of its obligations.”

Among the core themes of the report quoted above is that human rights law needs to be brought systematically to bear on climate change responses. An ICJAO on human rights and climate change is the best method by which this can be achieved at all levels.

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Comprehensive Frequently Asked Questions on Human Rights and Climate Change.

Factsheet developed by the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights.