UN human rights expert on climate change to visit the Philippines

GENEVA (2 November 2023) – The UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change, Ian Fry, will visit the Philippines from 6 to 15 November 2023.

During the visit, Fry will focus on loss and damage and the impacts of climate change on human rights; climate change legislation, litigation and intergenerational justice; protection of environmental human rights defenders and gender responses to climate change.

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.

The expert will travel to Metro Manila (including Valenzuela); Leyte (Tacloban, Abuyog and Baybay); and Iloilo (including Calinog), to meet with communities affected by climate change. He will also meet Government officials and representatives from civil society.

Fry will hold a press conference in Manila on 15 November at 12 PM local time at the UN House, Mandaluyong City. Access is strictly limited to journalists.

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

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.