CLIMATE CHANGE AND HUMAN RIGHTS 2.1 The Progressive Recognition of Human Rights Obligations Relating to the Environment and Climate Change (a) Recognition of Human Rights Obligations Relating to the Environment The core international human rights treaties do not recognize a freestanding right to a clean environment. However, it is generally understood that inadequate environmental conditions can undermine the effective enjoyment of other enumerated rights, such as the rights to life, health, water, and food. Some of the UN human rights treaties explicitly recognize this link. The ICESCR, for example, directs states to adopt measures as may be necessary for the “improvement of all aspects of environmental and industrial hygiene” in order to fully realize the right to health.56 The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) directs states to account for the “dangers and risks of environmental pollution” to ensure full implementation of the right to health for children.57 In addition, the 1972 Stockholm Declaration recognized that there is “a fundamental right to freedom, equality and adequate conditions of life, in an environment of a quality that permits a life of dignity and well-being.”58 While this declaration apparently recognizes a right to an adequate environment, it lacks the force of a binding treaty. Nonetheless, as noted by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), this declaration reflects a “general recognition of the interdependence and interrelatedness of human rights and environment.”59 OHCHR’s conclusion is supported by the UN Independent Expert on Human Rights and the Environment’s 2013 mapping report, which concluded that “[h]uman rights law includes obligations relating to the environment” that include both procedural obligations and substantive obligations.60 Finally, the right to a clean environment has either been expressly included in or interpreted as a fundamental component of many regional human rights agreements and national constitutions.61 (b) Recognition of Human Rights Obligations Relating to Climate Change Two key events sparked a searching international dialogue on human rights and climate change. First, in December 2005, the Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC) submitted a petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) requesting relief for human rights violations resulting from the impacts of global warming and climate change. The petition specifically alleged that the United States—the largest cumulative emitter of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to date—had violated the Inuit’s human rights by failing to adopt adequate GHG controls.62 Although the IACHR never issued a decision, the petition did succeed in drawing public attention to the severe effects of global warming on the Inuit and sparking further dialogue about the human rights implications of climate change.63 Second, in November 2007, the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) adopted the Male’ Declaration on the Human Dimension of Global Climate Change. The Male’ Declaration was the first international agreement to explicitly recognize that “climate change has clear and immediate implications for the full enjoyment of human rights.” It also called upon the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UNFCCC and the UN human rights bodies to launch a collaborative process for assessing the human rights implications of climate change.64 That same month, OHCHR issued a public statement for the Bali Climate Change Conference (COP-13) acknowledging that “climate change can adversely affect the fundamental human rights of present and future generations” and reminding the 56 57 58 59 ICESCR Art. 12(2)(b). CRC Art. 24(2)(c). Declaration of the UN Conference on the Human Environment (“Stockholm Declaration”), June 16, 1972, Principle 1. OHCHR further explains: “the United Nations human rights treaty bodies all recognize the intrinsic link between the environment and the realization of a range of human rights….” Report of the OHCHR on the Relationship Between Climate Change and Human Rights, UN Doc. A/HRC/10/61, Jan. 15, 2009 at paras 17-18. 60 HRC, Report of the Independent Expert on the issue of Human Rights Obligations Relating to the Enjoyment of a Safe, Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment, John H. Knox, pp. 79-81, A/HRC/25/53 (Dec. 30, 2013) [hereinafter “Mapping Report”]. 61 African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (June 27, 1981), Art. 24; Protocol of San Salvador Protocol (Nov. 17, 1988), Art. 11; Arab Charter on Human Rights (May 22, 2004), Art. 38; ASEAN Human Rights Declaration (Nov. 19, 2012), Art. 28; David Boyd, The Environmental Rights Revolution: A Global Study of Constitutions, Human Rights, and the Environment (2012); Dinah Shelton, Human Rights and the Environment: What Specific Environmental Rights Have Been Recognized? 35 Denv. J. Int’l L. & Pol’y 130 (2008); Luis E. Rodriguez-Rivera, Is the Human Right to Environment Recognized under International Law? It Depends on the Source, 12 Colo. J. Int’l Envtl L. & Pol’y 1 (2001). 62 Inuit Petition (2005), supra note 7. 63 Hari M. Osofsky, The Inuit Petition as a Bridge? Beyond Dialectics of Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples’ Rights, 31 Am. Indian L. Rev. 675 (2007). 64 Male’ Declaration on the Human Dimension of Global Climate Change (Nov. 14, 2007). 12 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