Climate Change Impacts on Human Rights

Introduction:

While climate change affects all human rights, its impact poses a serious and more direct risk to people’s rights to life, to health, to food, to a healthy environment, to a proper education, to water and sanitation, to adequate housing, to development and to self-determination in particular. The World Health Organization (WHO) indicates that between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause approximately 250,000 additional deaths each year resulting from pollution, malnutrition, scarcity of clean water and heat stress. Furthermore, according the 2015 Lancet Commission on Health and Climate Change, climate crisis is the biggest global health threat of this century and could reverse five decades of progress in global health, particularly as it endangers the right to food.

Special care should be taken in terms of the participation of persons in vulnerable situations and indigenous peoples in decision-making processes in order to enhance positive environmental outcomes and comply with relevant human rights obligations. Meaningful participation with vulnerable sectors will help to ensure that climate adaptation and mitigation efforts address the specific vulnerabilities of each group and do not adversely impact their basic human rights. Indigenous peoples and local communities, for instance, are disproportionally affected by climate change, as they often live in fragile ecosystems that are particularly exposed to extreme weather events.

2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement

The 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement have recognised the unique and important role of indigenous peoples and local communities as key actors in achieving their goals. The same is often true for women who do not merely bear the greatest burden of climate change induced effects but additionally have to face multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, gender-based violence and marginalisation due to, inter alia, a lack of educational and professional opportunities. A study by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) found that the “inclusion of women with diverse backgrounds in climate action and decision-making processes was critical for meaningful, effective and informed action that respected women’s rights”. As among those most affected by climate change, persons with disabilities, through their representative organisations, must also be actively included in shaping climate policies and actions.

Youth are generally under-represented in political institutions, but children and young persons should also play an important role in climate justice. The Fridays for Future movement for example has shown that young people want to have a say in the decision-making pertaining to environment, climate change and human rights. These are just four examples that need particular attention in decision making related to climate change.

Social Vulnerability

Social vulnerability in the context of climate change response is an important factor because some populations may have less capacity to prepare for, respond to, and recover from climate-related hazards and effects. Climate change is slowing down economic growth, eroding food security and creating new poverty traps, particularly in urban, coastal and agricultural areas. The effects of slow-onset disasters tend to have gradual impacts on livelihoods and health, including through declining agricultural yields. Sudden-onset disasters have immediate adverse impacts in terms of injury, death, displacement and damage to assets. Vulnerability to climate change is not just determined by external, climatic factors alone but also by factors such as marginalisation, social status, livelihood situation, revenue, social coverage and access to insurances.

Climate Migration

According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), an average of 25.3 million displacements have been recorded each year since 2008 by sudden-onset disasters alone. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has argued that the greatest impact of climate change could be on human migration and has predicted that 200 million people will have migrated from their place of origin by 2050 for this reason. It should be recognised that climate is just one of the factors influencing migration, the consequences of climate change for human population distribution being unclear and unpredictable and the people most vulnerable to climate change are not necessarily the ones most likely to migrate. In some cases, however, climate change can be the sole factor prompting migration. Even though climate migration and displacement remain mostly internal, there are some countries that are at risk of completely disappearing, and whose residents are in danger of displacement. Some of these examples can be found in Small Island Developing States (SIDS). However, there is considerable resistance to the idea of expanding the definition of political refugees – as outlined in the Geneva Conventions – to incorporate “climate refugees”.

Refoulement Provision

In its general comment No. 36 (2018) on the right to life, the United Nations Human Rights Committee broke important new ground by recognising that “environmental degradation, climate change and unsustainable development constitute some of the most pressing and serious threats to the ability of present and future generations to enjoy the right to life”. A case brought by Torres Strait Islanders against Australia, accusing the government of failing to take action to reduce emissions or pursue adaptation measures, was submitted to the Committee in 2019. Furthermore, in its first ruling on a complaint by an individual seeking asylum from the effects of climate change, the Committee concluded in 2020 that countries may not deport individuals who face climate change-induced conditions that violate the right to life under article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

Climate and The Aged

Older persons who may be physically, financially and emotionally less resilient to deal with a changing climate are also in a vulnerable situation. At the same time, the world’s population is ageing and by 2050, over 21% of the global population will be 60 or over. According to HelpAge International, “growing proportions of older people are increasingly exposed to risks, especially in low- and middle-income countries, which are the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change”. Older persons are also more vulnerable to the effects of extreme temperature rises and have a significantly higher mortality risk in extreme weather events. At the same time, and as pointed out by OHCHR, it needs to be recognised that older persons have an abundance of knowledge, experience and resilience, making their participation, inclusion, and leadership key to human rights-based global efforts to adapt to and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change.

In the face of global climate change, persons in vulnerable situations – that is, the Disabled, Youth, Children and the LBGTI community – must have their rights protected, be able to live in safety and dignity, obtain access to measures of adaptation and resilience, and receive the support of the international community. At the same time, it must be recognised that persons in vulnerable situations are active participants in society and agents of their own rights, whose meaningful participation must be ensured.