Ezekiel R. Kitandwe / US Marine Corps (2007)
CLIMATE CHANGE AND HUMAN RIGHTS
Damage to villages and infrastructure following Cyclone Sidr, which hit southern Bangladesh in November 2007
particularly in Africa, affected by drought and desertification, as well as floods.”128 In addition, it calls upon
developed countries to provide assistance to developing countries to address the adverse effects of climate change
in those countries.129 These directives complement the human rights obligations noted above.
The Hyogo Framework for Action (2005-2015) and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (20152030), endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly,130 also outline a set of obligations for countries to
build resilience of their citizens to disasters. The Sendai Framework explicitly recognizes that “[m]anaging the
risks of disasters is aimed at protecting persons and their property, health, livelihoods and productive assets, as
well as cultural and environmental assets, while promoting and protecting all human rights, including the right to
development.”131 It also recognizes that each state has the “primary responsibility” to take “effective measures to
reduce disaster risk” within its jurisdiction.132 States can refer to the principles and directives outlined in the Sendai
Framework in order to implement their human rights obligations with respect to climate-related disaster planning
and risk reduction.
Finally, OHCHR notes that states are “legally bound to address [climate-related] vulnerabilities in accordance
with the principle of equality and non-discrimination.”133 Specifically, the non-discrimination principle requires
that states “identify marginalized or vulnerable individuals and groups; address specific needs through ‘targeted
and differentiated interventions;’ and tackle underlying power imbalances and structural cases of ‘differential
vulnerability’ within and between households while building the ecological resilience necessary to reduce
vulnerability and achieve threshold needs.”134
128 UNFCCC Art. 4(1)(e).
129 UNFCCC Arr. 4(4).
130 A/RES/69/283, June 23, 2015.
131 Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015-2030), Part III, p. 19(c).
132 Id. at Part III, p. 13(b).
133 OHCHR, supra note 71, at p. 42.
134 Fisher (2014), supra note 49, at 11 (citing ELAN, Integrating Community and Ecosystem-Based Approaches in climate Change Adaption Responses (2012)).
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
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