UN human rights expert on climate change to visit Honduras

GENEVA (14 September 2023) – UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change, Ian Fry, will visit Honduras from 18 to 27 September 2023.

During the visit, the UN expert will assess how the adverse impact of climate change affects the human rights of communities in vulnerable situations. He will focus on dry corridor communities affected by climate change, as well as communities impacted by sea level rise and hurricanes.

The Special Rapporteur will examine how the effects of climate change are forcing people to be displaced from their land and what measures are being taken to address these impacts.

Fry will travel to Tegucigalpa and the Departments of Choluteca, Francisco Morazán, Atlántida, Colón, Yoro, Cortés and La Paz, to meet with communities affected by climate change. He will also meet Government officials and representatives from civil society.

The expert will hold a press conference in Tegucigalpa on 27 September at 11 AM local time at the Hyatt Place Hotel. Access is strictly limited to journalists.

The Special Rapporteur will present his report to the UN Human Rights Council in June 2024.

ENDS

Mr. Ian Fry is the first Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change. He was appointed by the Human Rights Council at its 49th session in March 2022 and started his mandate on 1 May 2022. Mr. Fry is an international environmental law and policy expert. His focus has primarily focussed on mitigation policies and loss and damage associated the Paris Agreement, Kyoto Protocol and related instruments. He worked for the Tuvalu government for over 21 years and was appointed as their Ambassador for Climate Change and Environment 2015-2019.

The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council's independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures' experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.