Human Rights Responsibility for the Impacts of Climate Change: Revisiting the Assumptions

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annalisa Savaresi
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

‘Eaten by the sea’: human rights claims for the impacts of climate change upon remote subnational communities

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-193
Author(s):  
Miriam Cullen
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Primary Case ◽  
Nation States ◽  
The People ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Form Part ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

The low-lying islands and atolls of the Pacific have been among the first places to experience the most severe impacts of anthropogenic climate change. Some of the affected islands are nation-states possessing the capacity to negotiate treaties and to directly participate in international forums such as the United Nations (UN). Others, however, are subnational jurisdictions, made up of people who live remote from the governing majority and yet are extremely vulnerable to national policy decisions, especially when it comes to climate change and its impacts. This article examines one potential avenue for redress for minority populations living in remote subnational jurisdictions where national policy on climate change arguably compromises their human rights: a communication to the UN Human Rights Committee (HRC). The article takes as its primary case study the people of the Torres Strait Islands, which form part of the state of Australia.

scholarly journals Climate Change Litigation and Human Rights: Pushing the Boundaries

Climate Law ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 244-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annalisa Savaresi ◽  
Juan Auz
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Environmental Context ◽  
Paris Agreement ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Future Developments ◽  
State Actors ◽  
Tackle Climate Change ◽  
Made In ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

The adoption of the Paris Agreement has prompted a flurry of climate change litigation, both to redress the impacts of climate change and to put pressure on state and non-state actors to adopt more ambitious action to tackle climate change. The use of human rights law as a gap-filler to provide remedies where other areas of the law do not is not new, especially in the environmental context. It is therefore not a surprise that human rights arguments are increasingly being made, and human rights remedies increasingly being sought, in climate change litigation. While relatively few cases have been argued on human rights grounds so far, the trend is continuing and accelerating, with some striking results. This article takes stock of human rights arguments made in climate change litigation to date to gauge what they reveal about the evolving relationship between human rights and climate change law—and about possible future developments.

Climate Justice: Holding Governments and Business Accountable for the Climate Crisis

2019 ◽  
Vol 113 ◽  
pp. 197-201
Author(s):  
Kristin Casper
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Fossil Fuel ◽  
Business Leaders ◽  
Climate Justice ◽  
The World ◽  
Fossil Fuel Industry ◽  
Fuel Industry ◽  
Climate Crisis ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

People around the world are already experiencing the impacts of climate change, and their human rights are under threat. Greenpeace's Climate Justice and Liability Campaign is collaborating with a growing number of communities to reclaim their rights through strategic climate litigation. Three themes run throughout these efforts. First, the climate breakdown is a human rights crisis. Second, political and business leaders must take immediate action or risk being sued. Third, there is mounting evidence that the fossil fuel industry is significantly responsible for the climate crisis and will ultimately be held accountable. Before exploring these themes, it is useful to understand the origins of Greenpeace International's climate justice efforts.

scholarly journals Human rights and the impacts of climate change: Revisiting the assumptions

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annalisa Savaresi ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Paris Agreement ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Derechos Humanos ◽  
High Commissioner ◽  
The World ◽  
Accountability Gap ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

The Paris Agreement acknowledges the need to tackle the permanent and irreversible impacts of climate change. It does not, however, provide means to hold state and non-state actors accountable for the harm to persons, property and the environment associated with climate change. In 2009 , the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) noted that qualifying the effects of climate change as human rights violations posed a series of technical obstacles. More than a decade later, applicants around the world increasingly rely on human rights law and institutions to complain about harms associated with the impacts of climate change. National, regional and international human rights bodies stand on the frontline to bridge the accountability gap left by the Paris Agreement. This article therefore revisits the OHCHR’s assumptions, suggesting that we use human rights as an interim “gap-filler”, while we seek better tools to tackle the impacts of climate change. El Acuerdo de París reconoce la necesidad de abordar los efectos permanentes e irreversibles del cambio climático. Sin embargo, no proporciona medios para hacer a los actores estatales y no estatales responsables del daño relacionado con el cambio climático infligido a personas, propiedades y al medio ambiente. En 2009, la Oficina del Alto Comisionado para los Derechos Humanos (ACNUDH) hizo notar que calificar los efectos del cambio climático como violaciones de derechos humanos presentaba algunos obstáculos técnicos. Más de una década después, solicitantes de todo el mundo se apoyan cada vez más en la jurisdicción sobre derechos humanos y sobre instituciones para protestar por los daños relacionados con el efecto del cambio climático. Entes nacionales, regionales e internacionales sobre derechos humanos están en la primera línea de lucha para cubrir el hueco sobre responsabilidad dejado por el Acuerdo de París. Este artículo revisita los supuestos aceptados por la ACNUDH, y propone que se utilicen los derechos humanos como un “parche” provisional mientras buscamos mejores instrumentos para abordar el efecto del cambio climático.

Implementing Sustainable Development in the Arctic: What Principles Should Guide Environmental Governance in Traditional Areas of Indigenous Peoples Facing the Impacts of Climate Change

2009 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 307-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donna Craig
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Environmental Governance ◽  
International Standards ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
The Social ◽  
Human Costs ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

Abstract The social and human rights implications of climate change, adaptation and mitigation have received relatively little attention. Yet the human costs of climate change directly threaten fundamental human rights. Equity issues also arise in the climate change context because of its disproportionate impact on already vulnerable people, Indigenous peoples and communities. This article commences with a review of human rights and sustainable development in the specific context of the rights of Indigenous Peoples. It does not undertake a comprehensive study of all aspects of Indigenous environmental governance in the Arctic. Rather, it seeks to explore the wider principles and international standards that are potentially applicable to the social and human rights dimensions of sustainable development in the Arctic in the context of the impacts of climate change.

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