CLIMATE CHANGE AND HUMAN RIGHTS
Unlike the ICESCR, the ICCPR does include a jurisdictional limit. Specifically, it directs each party “to respect and
to ensure to all individuals within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction” the rights recognized therein.176 The
HR Committee has interpreted this as requiring states to respect and ensure civil and political rights for all persons
within their “effective control.”177 For example, the Committee has noted that a state may not actively violate the
right to life of persons detained abroad, noting that:
“It would be unconscionable to so interpret the responsibility under article 2 of the Covenant as to permit
a State party to perpetrate violations of the Covenant on the territory of another State, which violations it
could not perpetrate on its own territory.”178
However, the Committee has not held that a state has an obligation to protect the right to life of persons outside
of its jurisdiction against harms caused by activities within its jurisdiction, and it would be a stretch to say that the
“effective control” standard encompasses such situations. That said, there are several HR Committee resolutions
that recognize the importance of international cooperation in this context, without explicitly recognizing an
obligation of international cooperation.179
The idea that states have extraterritorial obligations to prevent transboundary environmental harm is supported
by other international declarations and statements from authoritative bodies. For example, Principle 21 of the
Stockholm Declaration provides that states have “the responsibility to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction
or control do not cause damage to the environment of other States or of areas beyond the limits of national
jurisdiction.”180 More generally, the UNFCCC and other MEAs all recognize that states have obligations to address
the effect of their activities on global resources, such as the climate, oceans, and biodiversity.181 Indeed, the
UNFCCC’s principle of common but differentiated responsibilities is premised on the idea that the states most
responsible for climate change must take the lead in order to address the adverse effects of climate change on
ecosystems and people across the world, not just their own citizens.
(v) Safeguarding Human Rights in Mitigation and Adaptation Activities
Finally, international law requires states and other governmental actors to ensure that the actions they undertake
to mitigate or adapt to climate change do not violate human rights, as part of their duty to respect human rights.
This obligation applies to both specific projects and broader policy decisions. For example, in the CESCR Statement
on the World Food Crisis, the Committee “urge[d] State parties to address the structural causes at the national
and international levels, including by . . . [i]mplementing strategies to combat global climate change that do
not negatively affect the right to adequate food and freedom from hunger, but rather promote sustainable
agriculture, as required by Article 2 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.”182 CESCR’s
recommendation in this context was no doubt informed by concerns about biofuel projects and their impact on
food security.
176 ICCPR Art. 2, p. (1).
177 HR Committee, General Comment No. 31, Nature of the General Legal obligation on State parties to the Covenant, p. 10, UN Doc. CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/
Add.13 (2004).
178 101 (1981) ICCPR Comm. No. 52/1979, p. 12.3, UN Doc. CCPR/C/OP/1 (1981). See also Lilian Celiberti de Casariego v. Uruguay, ICCPR Comm. No.
56/1979 (1981).
179 See, e.g., UNHRC Res. 18/22, supra note 82, stated that “climate change is a global problem requiring a global solution, and that effective international
cooperation to enable the full, effective and sustained implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in accordance
with the provisions and principles of the Convention is important in order to support national efforts for the realization of human rights implicated by
climate change-related impacts.” Resolution 26/27, supra note 83, provided that “the global nature of climate change calls for the widest possible
cooperation by all countries and their participation in an effective and appropriate international response, in accordance with their common but
differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities and their social and economic conditions.” / “the need of giving due consideration in the
elaboration of the Post 2015 development agenda to the role of international cooperation in relation to the special needs and particular circumstances of
developing countries and to addressing the adverse impact of climate change on the full and effective realization of human rights.” / climate change is an
urgent global problem requiring a global solution, and that effective international cooperation to enable the full, effective and sustained implementation
of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in accordance with the provisions and principles of the Convention is important in order
to support national efforts for the realization of human rights affected by climate change-related impact.
180 In addition, the Maastricht Principles, although not legally binding, provide a comprehensive framework for understanding the extraterritorial obligations
of states in the area of economic, social, and cultural rights. They do not, however, provide detailed information on extraterritorial obligations related to
environmental harms or climate change. Maastricht Principles on the Extraterritorial Obligations of States in the Area of Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights (2013).
181 See, e.g., CBD, supra note 99, Arts. 5, 10; 1979 Geneva Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution, Art. 2 UNCLOS, supra note 99, Art. 145.
182 CESCR Statement on the World Food Crisis, pp. 12-13, UN Doc. E/C.12/2008/1 (May 18, 2008).
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