CLIMATE CHANGE AND HUMAN RIGHTS Current estimates of global annual economic losses due to additional temperature increases of approximately 2°C are between 0.2 and 2.0% of income, but actual losses are more likely than not to be greater than these estimates, and there will be large differences in economic losses both between and within countries.37 Many of the direct and indirect economic losses will occur due to the decreased productivity of agricultural systems, fisheries, forests, and other natural resources. Other drivers of economic loss include direct impacts on human health, water shortages, and extreme weather events. Affected rights: right to health, right to an adequate standard of living, right to food, right to water. (c) Impacts on Livelihoods, Health, and Security (i) Livelihoods and Poverty Climate-related hazards, including gradual changes and extreme weather events, will affect peoples’ livelihoods directly through impacts such as losses in crop yields; the destruction of natural resources, homes, and properties; and displacement. They will also have indirect effects on livelihoods by exacerbating other stressors—for example, climate change can contribute to: (i) increases in the prices of food, energy, and other critical commodities; (ii) political instability and large-scale conflict; and (iii) individual and household-level disturbances.38 Poverty, political instability, and conflict also undermine the ability of individuals and communities to adapt to climate change (e.g., by fortifying their physical assets or by moving to less vulnerable locations). Thus, climate change is one of many factors that can perpetuate a vicious cycle of poverty, deprivation, and inequality.39 Affected rights: right to an adequate standard of living, right to health, right to life, right to food, right to water, right to property. Aerial view of Kotzebue, Alaska, USA - an Inuit village facing the imminent prospect of displacement due to rising sea levels, melting permafrost, and erosion. 37 38 39 Id. at 663. For example, studies have found an increase in gender-based violence within households following climate-related disasters as well as slow-onset climate events, owing to greater stress and tension, loss and grief, and disrupted safety nets. Id. at 809. Id. at 817. 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 7