CLIMATE CHANGE AND HUMAN RIGHTS (ii) Human Health There is evidence that climate change has already contributed to health problems in some regions, and if climate change continues as projected under various scenarios, the major health impacts will include: (i) greater risk of injury, disease, and death due to more intense heat waves and fires; (ii) increased risk of under-nutrition resulting from diminished food production in poor regions; (iii) health consequences stemming from lost work capacity and reduced labor productivity in vulnerable populations; and (iv) increased risk of food-, water- and vector-borne diseases. 40 In some regions, the combined effects of higher average temperatures and higher humidity will also create significant health risks (especially those regions that already exceed the international standard for safe work activity during the hottest months of the year). Although there may be some positive health impacts, these will be increasingly outweighed by the magnitude and severity of negative health effects.41 Affected rights: right to health, right to life. (iii) Human Security Climate change will threaten human security42 by increasing the scarcity of key resources (e.g., water, food, land, and other natural resources), undermining livelihoods, compromising culture and identity, increasing displacement and migration, and challenging the ability of states to provide the conditions necessary for human security. Each of these impacts can directly affect human security, and can also contribute to political instability and violent conflict.43 Affected rights: right to life, right to an adequate standard of living, right to a nationality, right to selfdetermination, right to mobility, right to property. 1.2 Effects of Mitigation and Adaptation on Human Rights The manner in which governments and other actors respond to the challenges of climate change can also affect the enjoyment of human rights. This is true for actions undertaken to mitigate the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that contribute to climate change, as well as projects undertaken to adapt to the impacts of climate change. (a) Mitigation There are numerous examples of how certain kinds of mitigation projects undertaken to reduce or sequester GHG emissions can adversely affect the rights of certain groups. The most egregious violations have occurred in the context of: 1. Hydroelectric projects, which often lead to displacement of local people and the destruction of ecosystems upon which they depend, and can also harm the health and livelihoods of people living downstream from the project by reducing river flows.44 2. Biofuels policies and projects, which can contribute to food shortages and price shocks, additional water stress and scarcity, widespread deforestation, and displacement of indigenous peoples and 40 41 42 43 44 8 Id. at 713. Positive health impacts include modest reductions in cold-related mortality and morbidity in some areas due to fewer cold extremes, and reduced capacity of disease-carrying vectors due to extreme heat. Id. In the IPCC report, “human security” is defined as “a condition that exists when the vital core of human lives is protected, and when people have the freedom and capacity to live with dignity.” Id. at 759. For example, in a report on Syria, the former Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food described how severe droughts, exacerbated by climactic changes in the region, led to crop failures and food shortages, thus undermining the right to food. Olivier De Schutter, Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Addendum, Mission to the Syrian Arab Republic, U.N. Doc. A/HRC/16/49/Add.2 (Jan. 27, 2011). Since then, the drought and food shortages have contributed to political instability and violent conflict, resulting in deaths, injuries and displacement of millions of people. See also U.N. Secretary-General, Climate change and its possible security implications: Report of the Secretary-General, UN Doc. A/64/350 (Sept. 11, 2009). IFC Compliance Advisor Ombudsman, Complaint, Guatemala / Real LRIF-01/Coban (Oct. 29, 2014) (complaint submitted to IFC alleging social and environmental harms from Santa Rita dam); Economic, Social & Cultural Rights and Climate Change: A Legal Reference Guide 68-69 (Sébastien Jodoin & Katherine Lofts eds., CISDL, GEM & ASAP 2013); Naomi Roht-Arriaza, “First, Do No Harm’: Human Rights and Efforts to Combat Climate Change, 38 Ga. J. Int’l. & Comp. L. 593, 597-98 (2010); Victoria Tauli-Corpuz & Aqqaluk Lynge, Impact of Climate Change Mitigation Measures on Indigenous Peoples and on their Territories and Lands, study presented at the UN Economic and Social Council, Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, 7th session, E/C.19/2008/10 (2008); Tania Bodero et al., Request to meet about the Barro Blanco project during July 2013 visit to Panama (Centro de Incidencia Ambiental 2013). T H E H U M A N R I G H T S I M P L I C AT I O N S O F C L I M AT E C H A N G E