For a human rights-based approach

Dr. Abdullah Al Faruque

Climate change is the greatest challenge that humanity is facing today. The prevailing wisdom suggests that climate change is a global problem and it requires a global solution. Although developed countries are historically responsible for the climate change, it is not the developed countries that are likely to suffer the worst consequences of climate change. Rather developing countries will bear the brunt of most of the effects of it. As a matter of global justice, current framework of international law posits that developed countries should take the lead in reduction of greenhouse gas emission and in taking steps for mitigation of effects of climate change.

The principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities” has become a touchstone for the international climate equity debate. Perception of justice and equity remains an important feature of global climate politics and plays an important role in the design of climate protection policy. Equity also demands that at the decision-making level, human impacts of climate change and their differentiated causal responsibilities must be fully acknowledged and taken into account in the multilateral negotiations. Because it is widely believed that negative effects of climate change will exacerbate existing inequality by creating additional burden for developing countries who suffer from an already stressed and largely degraded natural resource base and high level of poverty. The issue of payment of compensation by developed states to the affected countries including small islands becomes central to the concept of global climate equity as a mechanism of fair distribution of burdens of climate change. All these aspects of global climate equity are inextricably linked to human rights from a broader perspective at least at the normative level.

The negative consequences of climate change are widely known and can include sea level rise, forced mass migration, increased disease incidence, destruction of shelter and disappearance of land. Obviously, rising global temperatures will increase vulnerability of the poor to poverty and social deprivation around the world. Forced migration can result in millions of 'environmental refugees' in near future. It is now well acknowledged that global warming could result in water shortages, floods, droughts and loss of livelihood. In this way, climate change poses a direct threat to enjoyment of a wide range of universally recognized fundamental rights such as the rights to life, food, adequate housing, health, and water. In particular, the effects of climate change will be felt most acutely by those segments of the population who are already in vulnerable situations due to factors such as poverty, gender, age, minority status, and disability. Women, children and indigenous peoples are particularly vulnerable to the detrimental consequences of climate change. Indigenous populations are already disproportionately affected in various parts of the world by climate change due to their closeness with the environment and distinct ways of livelihood that depend on access to land, natural resources.

A traditional approach to climate change remains environmental one, which views climate change primarily as an environmental, indeed ecological problema problem of polluting the environment, of degrading the eco-system. But human rights approach posits that climate change is also a human welfare and security problem, which needs to be resolved from broader socio-economic perspective. There is an increasing understanding that climate change needs to be looked not in isolation of technical issue but as part of a holistic strategy. A human rights-based approach is an essential element of such holistic strategy which takes the view that the ongoing climate negotiations should be viewed from various perspectives and should integrate human rights issues. Urgency of adopting such an approach follows from the fact that the negative consequences of rapidly increasing climate change are already having a dramatic effect on poor and marginalised people all over the world, reinforcing existing vulnerabilities and deepening inequalities.

From a more positive and forward-looking perspective, one may argue that human rights can usefully inform approaches to climate change in policy and legal terms. This dimension may include arguments based on human rights obligations of states under a variety of international law instruments. Human rights obligations may provide a legal baseline for how climate change is tackled and what must be protected from its impacts. From this, it may be possible to identify ways in which addressing climate change can help realise human rights and how realising rights can help ensure greater capacity to adapt to climate change, underscoring a core compatibility of aims and outcomes between addressing climate change and realising human rights.

A human rights approach to climate change marks an important shift in emphasis from the physical sciences to the plight of individual and communities that gives voice to the concerns and opinions of vulnerable and marginalised groups. But till date the human rights implications of climate change have not been explored fully despite the fact that the human costs of climate change directly threaten many fundamental human rights such as rights to life, to food, to a place to live and work. State failure to act effectively to curb climate change could result in widespread violations of these human rights. State responses to the threat of climate change must ensure that human rights are protected.

Amongst the strategies to combat the effects of climate change, human rights-based approach has emerged as the most effective one. This approach is normatively based on international human rights standards and practically directed to promoting and protecting human rights. Three elements of such human rights based approach can be identified: First, it can add considerable normative value to arguments in favour of strong mitigation and adaptation policies. Second, human rights based approach can be helpful for amending and improving relevant areas of international law. Third, linking climate change to a human rights perspective will be undoubtedly helpful to develop national climate strategies including adaptation policies. Adaptation to climate is the process through which people reduce the adverse effects of climate on their health and well-being and involves adjustments to reduce their vulnerability to climate. Mitigation and adaptation policies that are not based on human rights values may themselves undermine human rights. It will therefore be important to ensure that mitigation and adaptation policies take account of human rights consequences from the outset. Accountability and transparency are equally important when adaptation policies are implemented on the ground. To ensure accountability and transparency, adaptation policies and mitigation programmes should be formulated through adequate public consultation of the affected communities. In this way, a human rights-based approach places responsibility on governments to allow participation and input from affected members of society into the development of adaptation policies.

The UN Human Rights Council in its resolution adopted in March 2008 expressed the concern that climate change poses an immediate and far-reaching threat to people and communities around the world and has implications for the full enjoyment of human rights. Climate change interferes with the enjoyment of rights recognised in human rights treaties. But till date no environmental or human rights treaties address the issue. Human rights law places very few obligations directly on private actors such as multinational corporations, who contribute significantly to climate change. A human rights perspective can also be helpful in imposing some direct obligations on multinational corporations within the framework of international law to take measures to mitigate the effects of climate change. Another consequence of human rights based approach is that communities adversely affected should have access to appropriate remedies for climate change related human rights violations. Because climate change generally affects categories of economic, social and cultural rights of people, which are traditionally characterised by weak enforcement and monitoring. The practical value of a human rights-based approach lies in the fact that it focuses on the inclusion of previously excluded and marginalised populations in decision-making process relating to climate change.

The author is Associate Professor and Chairman, Department of Law, University of Chittagong.

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