A Right to Enjoy Culture in Face of Climate Change: Implications for “Climate Migrants”

This paper considers the extent to which international human rights law offers protection to ‘climate migrants’ irrespective of whether these persons would qualify for refugee status. In contrast with most existing literature, it does not focus on States’ obligations arising from the right to life or the prohibition of inhumane treatment. Instead, the paper focuses on the right of persons belonging to minorities to enjoy their culture as protected under Article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The paper peruses the Human Rights Committee’s interpretation of Article 27, with particular attention to its link with the rights of peoples to self-determination and to freely dispose of their natural wealth and resources as protected under Article 1 of the Covenant. Based on this analysis the paper challenges the presupposition that a normative gap exists, pointing instead at a need for further research into the interpretation of norms and obstacles to enforcement

Beyond the North–South Divide: Litigation\u27s Role in Resolving Climate Change Loss and Damage Claims

Within the international climate regime, legal aspects surrounding loss and damage (L&D) are contentious topics, implicating liability, compensation and notions of vulnerability. The attribution of responsibility and the pursuit of redress for L&D present intricate legal and governance challenges. The ongoing debates under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change are characterized by a pronounced North–South divide and have done little to provide tangible support to those most affected by L&D. This apparent neglect has prompted exploration of alternative avenues for climate harm redress. The burgeoning field of litigation for liability and compensation of climate harm holds potential significance for L&D discourse, but its efficacy, especially in compensation claims relating to the adverse effects of climate change, is uncertain. There is, as yet, no precedent of plaintiffs succeeding in an L&D case, with numerous legal, evidentiary and practical barriers persisting, particularly for Global South plaintiffs aiming to hold Northern governments and actors accountable. This article scrutinizes recent advances in climate litigation and their potential to facilitate or obstruct L&D litigation. Focusing on seminal L&D cases, namely, Lliuya v RWE and Asmania et al v Holcim, we present a novel legal critique of climate litigation\u27s capacity to assist climate-vulnerable States, populations and communities in pursuing redress for L&D, based on pertinent case law and an examination of overarching issues of attribution and extraterritorial jurisdiction

Principles of International Law Relevant for Consideration in the Design and Implementation of Trade-Related Climate Measures and Policies. Report of an International Legal Expert Group.

The report offers independent guidance for governments and stakeholders by eminent legal experts on principles of international law relevant for consideration in the design and implementation of trade-related climate measures and policies. The report reviews a set of recognized principles of international law that the expert group deems especially relevant for consideration including: Sovereignty; Prevention; Cooperation; Prohibition of Arbitrary & Unjustifiable Discrimination; Sustainable Development, Equity, & CBDR-RC; and Transparency & Consultation. The vision driving this report is that shared understandings on such principles could help foster dialogue and international cooperation on the design and implementation of trade-related climate measures and policies in the context of sustainable development priorities. According to the expert group, trade-related climate measures and policies should be approached as legal hybrids. Their rationale, design, and the debates about them draw from different areas of international law relating to the environment, climate, international trade and general international law. The principles are analysed in a way that presents them as cumulative and simultaneously applicable, in a mutually supportive and coherent manner, giving full effect to all relevant parts of international law, insofar as possible

Special Report on Global warming of 1.5°C (SR15) - Chapter 5:Sustainable Development, Poverty Eradication and Reducing Inequalities

The Special Report on 1.5°C assesses three main themes: • What would be required to limit warming to 1.5°C (mitigation pathways) • The impacts of 1.5°C of warming, compared to 2ºC and higher • Strengthening the global response to climate change; mitigation and adaptation options The connections between climate change and sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty are discussed throughout the report. This chapter takes sustainable development as the starting point and focus for analysis. It considers the broad and multifaceted bi-directional interplay between sustainable development, including its focus on eradicating poverty and reducing inequality in their multidimensional aspects, and climate actions in a 1.5°C warmer world. These fundamental connections are embedded in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The chapter also examines synergies and trade-offs of adaptation and mitigation options with sustainable development and the SDGs and offers insights into possible pathways, especially climate-resilient development pathways towards a 1.5°C warmer world

The Role of the UN Human Rights Council in Addressing Climate Change

This article discusses recent developments related to recognition of the link between human rights and climate change in international human rights forums. It focuses on the main human rights body of the United Nations, the Human Rights Council, which has addressed climate change in three resolutions, two panel discussions and at its annual Social Forum. The analysis shows that the main challenge faced by the Human Rights Council as it seeks to address climate change is getting to grips with the relationship between international human rights law on the one hand and the principles of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on the other. The article argues that this relationship is best captured through quasi-judicial analysis, in which input from those whose human rights are affected by climate change is sought. It identifies concrete ways in which the Council could promote or enable such analysis through the adoption of a further resolution. More broadly, it demonstrates the capacity of the international human rights system to interpret laws aimed at preventing dangerous climate change and to contribute to their operationalisation in accordance with international human rights law

Climate Change (Human Rights Committee, Ad hoc Conciliation Commission)

This contribution consists of ‘Views’ of an ad hoc Conciliation Commission established under Article 42 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to deal with a fi ctive complaint submitted by ‘Atoll Island State’. The complaint addresses the problem of climate change and its adverse effects on the indigenous inhabitants of the State. These adverse effects allegedly interfere with the inhabitants’ rights protected in Articles 1 (right to self-determination), 6(1) (right to life) and 17(1) (right to freedom from interference with private and family life). The international responsibility of a respondent State is invoked based on its historical contributions to climate change and its failure to comply with international obligations to prevent dangerous climate change. It is submitted by Atoll Island State that the Respondent State could have foreseen that its acts and omissions that cause and accelerate climate change would interfere with the rights of people living on low-lying islands. In fi nding the respondent State responsible for breaches of Articles 1 and 6(1), the Commission refers to an apparent causal link between the respondent State’s failure to prevent dangerous climate change and interferences with human rights on the other. It refers to provisions of the Climate Change Convention as “relevant rules of international law applicable in the relations between the parties”. In its fi nal remarks, it reiterates that its fi ndings do not absolve Atoll Island State of its legal obligations under the Covenant and calls for international cooperation between the parties