to prevent adverse impacts on the enjoyment of the human right to health as evidenced by the current and projected impacts of climate change on the enjoyment of this right. The right to housing “We have to reconcile ourselves with the reality that our islands will be under water, unless we do something very significant and substantial.” Anote Tong, President, Republic of Kiribati According to Article 11 of the ICESCR all persons are entitled to an adequate standard of living for themselves and their families including adequate housing. The scope and application of the right to housing is elaborated upon in General Comment No. 4 of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which states that “the human right to adequate housing…is of central importance for the enjoyment of all economic, social and cultural rights.”41 Like with all other economic, social and cultural rights, States are obliged to expend maximum available resources for the progressive realization of the right to housing for all persons. Climate change threatens the right to housing in a number of ways. Extreme weather events can destroy homes displacing multitudes of people. Drought, erosion and flooding can gradually render territories inhabitable resulting in displacement and migration. Sea level rise threatens the very land upon which houses in low-lying areas are situated and is expected to “continue for centuries even if the global mean temperature is stabilized.” 42 During the panel discussions, several speakers raised the issue of the right to housing in the context of destructive extreme weather events and rising sea-levels. Stressing the interconnected and cross-cutting nature of the impacts of climate change, Dan Bondi Ogolla noted that “loss of land through sea level rise [also] impacts the right to self-determination [and] to property.” President Anote Tong emphasized that climate change may literally erase Kiribati and other low-lying island States from the map and stressed the importance of guaranteeing the displaced inhabitants of lowlying areas “migration with dignity.” Migration with dignity would entail migration with the assurance of all human rights to all, including an adequate standard of living and the right to housing. The right to education According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “everyone has the right to education.” Article 13 of the ICESCR elaborates upon this right, guaranteeing to all persons, free, compulsory primary education and calling on States to progressively realize free secondary education for all. However, the impacts of climate change and the exigencies which it creates threaten the ability of States to expend maximum available resources for the progressive realization of the right to education and can press children into the labour pool prematurely. 41 United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment No. 4 (New York: United Nations, 1991), Art. 1. 42 IPCC, AR5, p. 13. Page 19 of 28