Human Rights for Disaster Risk Reduction Including Climate Change Adaptation

Abstract

International human rights law provides a comprehensive set of standards that address the creation of vulnerability to disasters and the way in which that vulnerability intersects with hazards in general and the negative effects of climate change specifically. This chapter discusses the ways in which human rights must be respected, protected, and fulfilled in the context of climate change adaptation (CCA) that is part of disaster risk reduction (DRR). This chapter begins with a short introduction of the international legal obligations associated with human rights, paying close attention to the way those obligations relate to different scales of time and space. It examines which human rights are likely to be violated in the context of DRR, including CCA, drawing on conversations about how human rights relate to both. The chapter analyses the obligations associated with the human right to health as they relate to CCA within DRR. It concludes with recommendations about how human rights can contribute to future discussions.