Le Volontarisme des Organisations Internationales Dans la Justification du Lien, Droits de L’Homme & Changements Environnementaux Globaux (The Voluntarism of International Organizations in the Justification of Link Human Rights & Global Environmental Change)

Abstract

This chapiter examines how the academic researches and literature along with NGOs and experts, had framed the relationship between climate change and human rights. What are the main lines (international, regional) that structured this linkage? In that respect, we will give particular attention to the important role of the Human Rights Council (HRC) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) since 2009, as well as the work that followed from UN agencies and NGOs. The OHCHR report for instance, classified the rights that are the most affected by climate change (classification). What is the outcome of these reflexions on the relationship between human rights and climate change? What concerns emerged?

We will show that the relationship between “human rights and climate change” presents a double aspect. On the one hand, climate change impacts and directly affects the basic Human Rights of certain populations (the right to life, right to water and to subsistence food aid, right to health care, adequate housing, etc.). The difficulty to separate what can be attributated to climate change from what is attributable to a State wrongful act (action or omission) will also be analyzed. On the other hand, the mitigation and adaptation measures can be indirectly and directly detrimental to human rights (What are the "side effects" of these measures on vulnerable people?). The present and future climate change Governance should be to fully integrate human rights in order to reduce long or short-term adverse consequences on the vulnerable community.

Note: Downloadable document is in French.

Keywords: Human Rights, climate change

JEL Classification: public law