Climate Change and Human Rights (original) (raw)

Climate Change : A Threat To Human Rights

Glaciers are melting, sea levels are rising, cloud forests are dying, and wildlife is scrambling to keep pace because of Global Climate change. Climate change is one of the biggest crises that humanity is facing. As a result of climate change there are more intense storms, more rain followed by longer and drier droughts (a challenge for growing crops), changes in the ranges in which plants and animals can live, and loss of water supplies that have historically come from glaciers. Climate change has already had observable effects on the environment. It is already affecting society in far reaching ways. In fact most human activities have an effect on and are influenced by environmental and climate change factors. Evidence for climate change abounds, from the top of the atmosphere to the depths of the oceans. Certain type of extreme weather events like Rising Sea levels, Floods, Heat Waves, Droughts, Desertification, water shortages, the spread of tropical and vector borne diseases have become more frequent and/or intense. These and other aspects of climate change affect the enjoyment of Human Rights by people throughout the world including – right to life, right to health, right to housing, right to an adequate standard of living, right to food, right to water, right to property, right to self-determination and also damaging some sectors of our economy. The present paper focuses on the Climate change and its impact on Human Rights. Climate change has emerged as one of the major threat to Human Rights of our generation. Climate change poses an enormous threat to the lives and well-being of individuals and communities across the world. The negative impacts caused by climate change are global, simultaneous and increasing exponentially according to the degree of climate change that ultimately takes place. Climate change, therefore, requires a global rights-based response. One reason for the attention to the relationship between climate change and human rights is the recognition that climate change is having an uneven impact across the world.

CLIMATE JUSTICE: CLIMATE CHANGE AND HUMAN RIGHTS

Denialism and Human Rights, 2019

Book chapter: Author of Chapter: ‘Climate Justice: Climate Change and Human Rights, in book: “Denialism and Human Rights”, by Roland Moerland, Hans Nelen (Eds), Cambridge University Press, 2017. ABSTRACT: The inadequate commitment of academia to Climate Change research, and the neglected, under-developed state of Climate Justice, must be addressed and counter-acted. The following paper aspires to pay a small contribution to that specific cause. This essay is based on the fact that Climate Change is undermining the fulfillment of internationally protected Human Rights, like the rights to health and life; the right to food, water, shelter, property; rights associated with livelihood and culture; with migration and resettlement; and with personal security in the event of conflict. The worst effects of Climate Change are principally felt by those whose rights protections are already insufficient. In this essay, I highlight these risks and advocate their consideration. Additionally I ask questions such as: What are the Human Rights repercussions of Climate Change, and how does the extensive organisation of international Human Rights law and knowledge, convey that phenomenon? Where does international Human Rights law overlap with or provoke duties under the embryonic Climate Justice regime? Where should Climate Change strategies challenge Human Rights essentials? My ambition is to clarify the confusion covering this area of study, and by examining the relationship between Climate Change and Human Rights, an attempt is made to discover, examine, and analyse their most essential links.

Forging the Nexus of Climate Change and Human Rights

European Journal of Law and Political Science

The impact of climate change on human rights is a serious worry for the global community and is receiving more attention from both policymakers and researchers. However, information in this sector is sparse and fragmented. In an effort to highlight the difficulties facing humanity due to climatic factors, this article examines the rising emphasis given to human rights principles. It examines the linkages between human rights and legal responses to climate change and argued that certain connections exist between the two. The extent to which the international system sufficiently safeguards the human rights of those who are negatively impacted by climate change is examined. In conclusion, it makes suggestions for enhancing the protection of human rights in the context of climate change.

Climate Change and Human Rights: notes for a talk at the Inaugural Terry Hampson Dinner

International human rights instruments emerged after the Second World War and the UDHR was adopted on 10 December 1948. Since then binding human rights instruments have been developed and adapted to different areas of the human condition. International concern about degradation of the environment commenced with the Stockholm Conference in 1972. There is much crossover between concerns with a healthy environment and other human rights principles. The receipt by the HRC of framework principles on human rights and the environment brings us closer to a binding human rights instrument that directly addresses the right to a healthy and sustainable environment.

Climate Change and Human Rights: Unpacking the Issues

Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law, 2010

Global warming is expected to contribute to many human wrongs: disease, malnutrition, flooding of coastal communities. But does every human wrong violate a human right? Should we conceptualize climate change not only as an environmental problem – the preeminent one of our time – but also as a human rights violation? Proposals to treat climate change as a human rights problem raise many fundamental questions. Theoretically, what does it mean to conceptualize climate change in human rights terms? How would a human rights approach differ from treating climate change as an environmental or economic or scientific problem? Descriptively, what does human rights law say about climate change and, conversely, what does climate change law say about human rights? Normatively, does it make sense to approach climate change as a human rights issue? What are the pros and cons? This brief introduction to a symposium issue of the Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law on climate change and human rights seeks to map out the overarching distinctions and questions.

Human Rights and Climate Change: Building Synergies for a Common Future

Human rights exist only on the margins of the existing international climate change regime. Undoubtedly, bringing a human rights framework to international efforts can help to solidify the ethical moorings needed to compel meaningful action to address climate change. However, while advocates of a rights-based approach to climate change agree that human rights principles should underpin global climate change policies, there are many variations in how human rights may be defined, justified, and brought to bear in the climate change arena. This chapter reviews several leading approaches and proposals for strengthening the connection between climate change and human rights. Each approach presents innovative options for marshaling human rights as both a rhetorical tool to help promote the achievement of a global climate change agreement, and also to influence the negotiation and content of a strong, effective, and equitable framework. Nevertheless, it remains a research challenge how to integrate human rights norms into an international climate change regime.

Climate Change and Human Rights: Amicable or Arrested Development?

Suggested citation: 1(2) Journal of Human Rights and the Environment (2010) 236 This article considers the attention which is increasingly afforded to human rights norms in the attempt to highlight the challenges facing humankind as a result of climate change. It analyses the links between legal responses to climate change and human rights and argues that certain connections exist between the two. This is particularly the case in domestic settings. At the same time, a number of significant limitations exist which are likely to hamper the use of human rights law in climate change settings.

Climate change and human rights: Roles, responsibilities and actions

The world's climate is changing, with insidious effects that steadily erode the quality of life of those who depend on the environment. The dramatic effects of this change are evident in the form of an exceptional accumulation of natural disasters. In the two decades since the U.N. recognized climate change as a potential threat, climate change has emerged as a real and worsening danger to health, human rights, and human well-being. Accordingly, climate change has become an integral part of the discussion surrounding human rights advocacy and action, in particular it is suggested that a rights based approach to climate change offers potential for engagement and mitigation of the effects of climate change on vulnerable populations.