CLIMATE CHANGE AND HUMAN RIGHTS The UNFCCC outlines similar obligations with respect to assessing and disclosing information related to climate change. Specifically, Art. 4(1)(h) requires states to “[p]romote and cooperate in the full, open and prompt exchange of relevant scientific, technological, technical, socio-economic and legal information related to the climate system and climate change, and to the economic and social consequences of various response strategies.” Art. 6 also directs the Parties to promote and facilitate at the national and, as appropriate, subregional and regional levels, “public access to information on climate change and its effects.” Several other provisions direct the Parties to provide information on national GHG emissions and measures taken to address climate change and its effects.92 The right to information and corresponding obligation to acquire information through environmental impact assessments (EIA) and other mechanisms, and to communicate that information to the public, are also included in the Rio Declaration,93 the Aarhus Convention,94 the Espoo Convention on EIA in a Transboundary Context, the Kyiv (SEA) Protocol, and a variety of other MEAs.95 The domestic laws of numerous states also contain such requirements.96 Several expert bodies have explicitly directed states to account for climate change when fulfilling their obligations to evaluate environmental risks and disclose environmental information to the public.97 For example, in Resolution 65/178 (2011), the UN General Assembly called for urgent international, regional and national efforts to address the impacts of climate change on food security.98 And regarding the right to water, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) has determined that State parties should establish mechanisms for assessing the impacts of climate change, desertification and other environmental harms on watersheds.99 (ii) Public Participation in Environmental Decision-making The UDHR (Art. 21) and ICCPR (Art. 25) both recognize the fundamental right of everyone to take part in the government of their country and in the conduct of public affairs. In addition, a variety of human rights treaty bodies have determined that governments have an obligation to facilitate public participation in environmental decision-making in order to protect human rights against environmental harm.100 The UNFCCC also directs states to promote and facilitate “public participation in addressing climate change and its effects and developing adequate responses.”101 Other multilateral environmental instruments similarly provide for public participation.102 92 93 94 UNFCCC Arts. 4(2)(b), 7(2)(b), 12. Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (1992), Principles 10 and 17. The Aarhus Convention outlines a comprehensive set of obligations relating to access to information, public participation in decision-making, and access to justice in environmental matters, and provides a useful gauge for a country’s compliance with obligations under other treaties (notably, the ICCPR). For example, the Convention defines “environmental information” for assessment and disclosure purposes; directs parties to take specific, affirmative steps to promote access to information. The Convention also restricts the circumstances under which governments may refuse a request for environmental information. Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (“Aarhus Convention”), June 25, 1998, Arts. 3(2), 3(3), 4, 5. 95 Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Art. 13; UN Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Art. 244; Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty, Annex I; Convention to Combat Desertification (CCD), Arts. 5(d), 10(f); Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, Art. 9. 96 According to a 2011 survey, 191 of the 193 member nations of the UN either have national legislation or have signed some form of international legal instrument that refers to the use of EIA. Richard K. Morgan, Environmental Impact Assessment: The State of the Art, 30 Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal 5 (2012). 97 In addition to the statements of the UN General Assembly and the CESCR, see Special Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik, Report of the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context, p. 50, UN Doc. A/62/25 (Aug. 6, 2009).¶ 50, UN Doc. A/62/214 (Aug. 8, 2007) (“Informed and effective participation, in turn, requires that information about the mitigation targets and decisions related to those goals are managed transparently.”); Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, Chaloka Beyani, p. 66, UN Doc. A/HRC/16/43 (Dec. 20, 2010) (“Urban dimensions of climate-change-induced displacement should be a key consideration in medium and long-term national development strategies, as well as adaptation measures. These should include strengthened systems to monitor influxes of IDPs, and to address the assistance and durable solutions needs of IDPs outside camps living in urban areas. IDPs, who are more likely to be unlisted and undocumented, are also likely to have less access to services and livelihoods, and to live in slum areas which are often situated in hazard-prone locations such as low-lying areas and landfill sites –thereby making them vulnerable to further risks, including to their physical safety, the loss of housing, and secondary displacement.”). 98 G.A. Res. 65/178, pp. 15, 26, UN Doc. A/Res/65/178 (March 24, 2011). 99 CESCR Comment No 15, p. 28, UN Doc. E/C.12/2002/11 (Jan. 20, 2003). 100 See, e.g., CESCR General Comment No. 15, p. 56, UN Doc. E/C.12/2002/11 (Jan. 20, 2003) (public participation required before any government or third party action that interferes with right to water); Mapping Report (2013), supra note 64, pp. 36-40. See also UN Doc. A/HRC/7/21 (Feb. 18, 2008), supra note 94, at ¶ 51 (Special Rapporteur Ibeanu calling for “public participation in the preparation of environmental plans, programmes, policies, laws and regulations, as well as the permitting of industrial, agricultural, and construction activities). 101 UNFCCC Art 6. See also Cancun Agreements (2011), supra note 86, p. 7; UNFCCC Decision 9/CP.13 Amended New Delhi work programme on Article, annex, p. 17(k), UN Doc. FCCC/CP/2007/6/Add.1 (2007). 102 See, e.g., Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. Art. 10; CBD, supra note 99, Art. 14(1); CCD Arts. 3, 5, 19; Aarhus Convention, Arts. 6, 7, 8. T H E O B L I G AT I O N S O F G O V E R N M E N T S A N D P R I VAT E A C T O R S T O R E S P O N D T O 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 17