Similarly, the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action invites countries to make “[i]ncreased
efforts […] to assist countries which so request to create the conditions whereby each
individual can enjoy universal human rights and fundamental freedoms.”56 The CESCR has
interpreted the ICESCR provisions regarding international cooperation as containing
extraterritorial obligations in certain occasions. For instance, in its General Comment No. 14
on the right to the highest attainable standard of health, the CESCR noted that State Parties
must “prevent third parties from violating the right in other countries, if they are able to
influence these third parties by way of legal or political means, in accordance with the Charter
of the United Nations and applicable international law.”57 Another example is General
Comment No. 15 on the right to water, where the CESCR affirmed a duty to refrain from
actions within a State’s jurisdiction that would have detrimental effects on the enjoyment of
human rights in another State:
To comply with their international obligations in relation to the right to water, States
parties have to respect the enjoyment of the right in other countries. International
cooperation requires States parties to refrain from actions that interfere, directly or
indirectly, with the enjoyment of the right to water in other countries. Any activities
undertaken within the State party’s jurisdiction should not deprive another country
of the ability to realize the right to water for persons in its jurisdiction.58
According to De Schutter, when read in conjunction with the Charter of the United Nations and
the Vienna Declaration, the ICESCR can be understood as establishing obligations by States to
uphold the human rights of populations in other States:59 “There is a growing recognition
[…] that the fact of the interdependency of States should lead to impose an extended
understanding of State obligations, or an obligation on all States to act jointly in face of
collective action problems faced by the international community of States.”60 While he states
that the content of such an obligation is yet to be defined, he suggests that this could include
regulating “the activities of private actors whose behavior a State may decisively influence”.61
In the case of climate change, this could be the foundation of an obligation for high carbonemitting States to adopt mitigation policies.
De Schutter’s interpretation of the ICESCR is reinforced by the Maastricht Principles on
Extraterritorial Obligations of States in the Area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, adopted by
prominent human rights experts in September 2011. Articles 3 and 9 of the Principles affirm
an interpretation of international law extending States’ obligations to extraterritorial
situations where they are in a position to have an effect or influence on the realization of
human rights:
3. All States have obligations to respect, protect and fulfil human rights, including
civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights, both within their territories and
extraterritorially. […]
9. A State has obligations to respect, protect and fulfil economic, social and cultural
rights in any of the following:
a) situations over which it exercises authority or effective control, whether or
not such control is exercised in accordance with international law;
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