30
The key global indicators, as previously discussed, also point to the conclusion that
human activities have caused significant changes. The IPCC found that the warming of the
atmosphere and oceans, the acidification of the ocean, sea-level rise, the decrease of the
cryosphere, and the changes in climate and weather events can all be traced back to the
influence of human activities on the climate.132
All these considered, the Commission accepts that climate change is primarily
anthropogenic or caused by human activities.
C. Climate Change:
A Grave and Urgent Human Rights Concern
1. Adverse Impacts of Climate Change on Human Rights
In General
Anthropogenic climate change is “the greatest human rights challenge of the 21st
century.”133 It negatively affects a host of, if not all, human rights.134 Climate change
impacts, including the degradation of the environment; deprivation of resources;
prevalence of life-threatening diseases; widespread hunger and malnutrition; and
extreme poverty, among others, prevent an individual from living a dignified life.
Some of the individual rights adversely impacted are the rights to life, food, water,
sanitation, and health. Collective rights are also affected, including the rights to
food security, development and sustained economic growth, self-determination,
preservation of culture, equality and non-discrimination.
132
Id.
133
As remarked by Former High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, now President of
the Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice, during the panel discussion on human rights and
climate change during the 28th session of the Human Rights Council.
134
See United Nations Human Rights Council, Human Rights and Climate Change, U.N. Doc. No.
A/HRC/RES/41/21 (July 23, 2019) (Some of the previous Council resolution underlining the
wide range of implications of climate change on the effective enjoyment of human rights include
RES/7/23, RES/10/4, RES/18/22, among others) & Office of the High Commissioner for Human
Rights, Understanding Human Rights and Climate Change (Submission of the Office of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights to the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change).
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