PALAIS DES NATIONS • 1211 GENEVA 10, SWITZERLAND www.ohchr.org • TEL: +41 22 917 9159 • FAX: +41 22 917 9006 • E-MAIL: srenvironment@ohchr.org Mandate of the Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment Statement on the human rights obligations related to climate change, with a particular focus on the right to life 1 David R. Boyd, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Environment October 25, 2018 I. Introduction 1. I, David R. Boyd, have prepared this statement in my role as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights obligations related to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment. I was appointed to this post on 1 August 2018. This voluntary position forms part of the UN’s special procedures, experts selected from across the world to contribute to the fulfillment of human rights in areas related to their professional expertise. I work closely with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and report annually to both the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly. I am also a professor at the University of British Columbia in Canada, jointly appointed in the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability and the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs. I have worked as an environmental lawyer for 25 years, served as an advisor to many governments on environmental policy, and published nine books and more than 100 articles, reports, and book chapters. 2. My predecessor as Special Rapporteur, Professor John H. Knox of the United States, wrote or co-authored several important reports on the relationship between human rights and climate change. In this statement, I will draw upon a wide body of work including international human rights treaties, international environmental conventions, resolutions of the UN Human Rights Council, reports published by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, reports published by Professor Knox during his term as Special Rapporteur, and the authoritative reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 1 Authorization for the positions and views expressed by the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment, in full accordance with his independence, was neither sought nor given by the United Nations, including the Human Rights Council or the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, or any of the officials associated with those bodies. This third-party intervention is made by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on a voluntary basis without prejudice to, and should not be considered as a waiver, express or implied of the privileges and immunities of the United Nations, its officials and experts on missions, pursuant to the 1946 Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations. 1