CLIMATE CHANGE AND HUMAN RIGHTS • 14 discussed the impact of climate change and mitigation and/or adaptation responses on indigenous peoples.211 Notably, all of the INDCs that discuss any of these three topics were submitted by developing countries and least developed countries. These countries often noted the need to implement their mitigation and adaptation targets with full respect for human rights or related issues (e.g., gender equality, indigenous rights), without providing much detail on how this would occur.212 The INDCs submitted by developed countries do not mention human rights, gender, indigenous peoples, or other relevant considerations (e.g., equity, poverty alleviation, and ensuring access to basic goods and services).213 A report published by the Mary Robinson Foundation in 2014 also concluded that the majority of country reports to the UNFCCC and the UNHRC do not address the link between human rights and climate change.214 Some of the key findings from that report included: • 49 countries explicitly mentioned human rights in National Communications and National Adaptation Plans of Action (NAPAs) submitted to the UNFCCC between 2010 and 2014. This included 39% of the National Communications and 4% of the NAPAs that were submitted during that period.215 • Procedural rights were more frequently discussed than substantive rights in the National Communications submitted to the UNFCCC. 20% of these communications discussed procedural rights (10% developed/ 10% developing), and 13% discussed substantive rights (1% developed/12% developing).216 • 45 countries explicitly mentioned the human rights impact of climate change in their national reports to the Universal Periodic Review of the HRC between 2010 and 2014. These included 12% of the submissions from developed countries, 29% of the submissions from developing countries, 32% of submissions from least developed countries (LDCs), and 45% of the submissions from small island development states (SIDS).217 • Only 12 countries made the link between human rights and climate change in reports to both the UNFCCC and the HRC.218 The report concluded that further steps are needed to ensure that countries will integrate human rights considerations into their climate policies, and also account for climate change when reporting on human rights performance. While the failure to report on the linkages between human rights and climate change is not itself a violation of human rights obligations, it does suggest that many countries are not thinking about these obligations when formulating climate change plans and policies. It also makes it more difficult for the international community to assess what countries are doing to address the human rights implications of climate change. 3.2 Mitigation Measures and Commitments The “emissions gap”— the gap between the aggregate effect of actions and commitments by parties to the UNFCCC and the emissions reductions required to keep warming at or below 2°C219—is a major concern from a human rights perspective. The parties have significantly increased their mitigation ambition in the lead-up to the Paris Agreement. But there is more to be done. Moreover, many countries dispute whether the 2°C is really adequate to prevent “dangerous anthropogenic interference” with the atmosphere and the natural systems that 211 These countries include: Brazil, Cameroon, Central African Rep, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Lao, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, South Africa, Vietnam, Zimbabwe. Id. 212 See, e.g., Federative Republic of Brazil, Intended Nationally Determined Contribution 1 (2015); Government of Costa Rica, Ministry of Environment and Energy, Costa Rica’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution 11 (2015). 213 See, e.g., INDCs submitted by Australia, Canada, the European Union, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, and the United States. 214 Mary Robinson Foundation, Incorporating Human Rights into Climate Action (Oct. 2014). 215 Id. at 4. 216 Id. The report also noted that parties to the Aarhus Convention (predominantly developed countries) were 4 times more likely to refer to the right to access to information, which implies that the Aarhus Convention is “successful at promoting the inclusion of human rights in policy making.” 217 Id. at 5. 218 Id. at 6. 219 UNEP, The Emissions Gap Report (2015). I M P L E M E N TAT I O N A S S E S S M E N T 31