Women’s Human Rights and Climate Change: State Obligations and Standards

Abstract

The year 2020 is a significant year for women’s human rights. It marks the 20th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security and 25 years since the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. These anniversaries have led to significant mobilisation by women’s movements around the globe to implement the rights set out therein and to advocate for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which are at their half way point. However, the anniversary marking 40 years of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) - the UN’s blueprint for the advancement of women’s human rights - has passed, relatively speaking, under the radar. With this in mind, this briefing paper provides an overview of some of the CEDAW Committee’s most recent work since the opening of the Convention for adoption by States in Copenhagen in 1980.

The purpose of the briefing paper is to alert readers to the significant work that the CEDAW Committee has undertaken in relation to the gender-related dimensions of disaster-reduction and climate change. As CEDAW Committee member Nahla Haidar has commented, the CEDAW Committee first issued a statement on natural disasters and climate change in 2009, 11 years ago. Despite this the important standards set by the Committee in relation to state obligations under the Convention and how they relate to disasters and climate change remain relatively unknown.

Keywords: Human Rights, Climate Change, Women, Discrimination, United Nations