Human Rights and the Environment,62 and other UN subsidiary bodies and affiliated
organizations have also issued numerous reports detailing the linkages between climate change
and human rights law.63 Most recently, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR)
reiterated that protecting the environment is critical to the enjoyment of other human rights and
“has recognized the existence of an undeniable relationship between the protection of the
environment and the fulfillment of other human rights, in that environmental degradation and the
adverse effects of climate change affect the effective enjoyment of human rights.” 64
Below are the relevant findings of UN bodies and other legal and technical experts
detailing precisely how the impacts of climate change will affect specific rights, including the
right to life, right to health, right to clean water and sanitation, right to food, right to adequate
housing, right to self-determination and development, and right to equality and nondiscrimination. A chart summarizing the relationship between climate impacts, human impacts,
and human rights protections is attached as Chart A.
I.
Right to Life
The UDHR and the ICCPR recognize that every human being has an inherent right to
life, liberty, and security of person. 65 OHCHR has recognized that climate change “clearly poses
a threat to human life” due to the higher incidence of mortality associated with extreme weather
events, increased heat, drought, and expanding disease vectors, among other things. 66 Other
expert bodies and domestic tribunals have issued similar findings. 67
These findings are supported by a substantial body of evidence about the life-threatening
effects of climate change. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), climate change
62
Rep. of the Special Rapporteur on the issue of human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean,
healthy and sustainable environment, A/HRC/31/52 (2016).
63
For a detailed list of statements issued by UN bodies on this topic, see Sabin Center brief, at n. 52. See also UN
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Concluding Observations on the Ninth Periodic
Report of Norway, UN Doc. CEDAW/C/NOR/CO/9 (Nov. 17, 2017) (expressing concern about the climate impacts
of oil and gas extraction in the Arctic and the adverse consequences for women’s rights); UN Committee on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, List of Issues in Relation to the Fourth Periodic Report of Argentina, UN
Doc. E/C.12/ARG/Q/4 (Oct. 13, 2017) (noting that fossil fuel exploration has human rights implications); UN
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Concluding Observations on the Fifth Periodic Report of
Australia, UN Doc. E/C.12/AUS/CO/5 (July 11, 2017) (recommending that Australia revise its climate change and
energy policies in order to address the human rights impacts of climate change).
64
Solicitada por la República de Colombia, Medio Ambiente y Derechos Humanos, Opinión Consultiva OC-23/17
Inter-Am. Ct. H.R., ¶ 47 (internal citation omitted) (dated Nov. 15, 2017, published Feb. 7, 2018), available at
http://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/opiniones/seriea_23_esp.pdf (unofficial translation) (Original: “Esta Corte ha
reconocido la existencia de una relación innegable entre la protección del medio ambiente y la realización de otros
derechos humanos, en tanto la degradación ambiental y los efectos adversos del cambio climático afectan el goce
efectivo de los derechos humanos.”). The Inter-American Court of Human Rights’s official English summary is
provided as an Appendix to this joint summary.
65
G.A. Res. 217 (III) A, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Art. 3 (Dec. 10, 1948) [hereinafter UDHR];
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Arts. 6, 9, Dec. 16, 1966, 999 U.N.T.S. 171 [hereinafter
ICCPR].
66
UNDERSTANDING HUMAN RIGHTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE, supra note 57, at 13-14.
67
See, e.g., Urgenda Foundation v. Kingdom of the Netherlands, Judgment: Regarding the failure of the Dutch State
to take sufficient actions to prevent dangerous climate change, ¶ 4.74 (District Court of the Hague 2015); Ashgar
Leghari v. Federation of Pakistan, W.P. No. 25501/2015 (Lahore High Court Green Bench, Sept. 15, 2015).
22
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