Side Event to the 34th Session of the Human Rights Council

From Paris to Marrakech, tackling Climate Change is, also, an Obligation of Human Rights, through, "Geneva Pledge" 

Statement by Kate Gilmore, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights

6 March 2017, 14:00 – 16:00 Room XXI,
Palais des Nations, Geneva

Excellencies,
Colleagues and friends,

I would like to thank the Geneva Pledge for Human Rights in Climate Action and the Permanent Missions of Morocco, France, Costa Rica and Fiji for hosting this important event. I am honoured to be here today with ambassadors from these States, the President of Morocco’s National Human Rights Council, and representatives of IOM, WHO, UNICEF and CIEL.
Thank you all for joining us here to discuss the path forward for integrating human rights in climate action and the role of the Geneva Pledge in this work.

From its inception, OHCHR is immensely proud to be deeply involved with the Geneva Pledge for Human Rights in Climate Action. The Pledge has grown from an idea born at a brainstorming session organized by OHCHR and the Mary Robinson Foundation in early 2015 to now a cross-regional group of 34 States engaged in regular advocacy on the intersections between the Human Rights Council and at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The Pledge, hosted by Costa Rica, now includes the presidencies of the 21st and 22d Conferences of the Parties to the UNFCCC (France and Morocco) and the incoming presidency (Fiji) all of whom se thank very much for being so well represented here today.

Advancing focus on the intersections between human rights and climate change at the Human Rights Council and at the UNFCCC has been a shared priority and the benefits are evidenced by the increased interest in and growing number of events addressing climate change at the Council, and more importantly by the engagement of the Council’s human rights monitoring and reporting mechanisms with climate-related issues.

The underlying strategic relevance of these intersections is apparent in the Preamble to the Paris Agreement at COP21 as well as the extension and strengthening of the Lima Work Programme on gender and the inclusion of human rights language in a capacity-building decision during the 22nd Conference of the Parties in Marrakech.

These are the product of strong advocacy by many including the Geneva Pledge States who should be congratulated. However, these are no cause for complacency. As was emphasized last week during the Human Rights Council panel discussion on climate change and the rights of the child, now is a time for urgent action.

That discussion made clear that children are already suffering the impacts of climate change, with more children affected by and more children dying from natural disasters, vector-borne diseases, starvation, poor sanitation, heat stress and inadequate access to water.

Despite our agreements to take decisive and consequential action, climate change continues to pose as large a threat to the enjoyment of human rights as it ever has. State commitments to mitigate and to adapt to climate change fall far short of the agreed target of the Paris Agreement to limit warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius. And even reaching this target would not prevent many climate harms, therefore, also falling well short of the true objective which is the protection of people and of habitat.

To date, much of the work under the Geneva Pledge and that of our Office has undertaken has been dedicated simply to outlining the scope of State human rights obligations or even arguing that such obligations existed.  The Paris Agreement, the Human Rights Council and the international community have definitively settled these questions, much as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has resolved all doubts about both the causes and impacts of climate change.  Yet, dissent from these facts continues to be stoked by those who seek to protect their own interests in the here and now at the expense of our collective future.

The undermining of achievements in confronting the implications of global warming, the intersections between human behaviour and climate change and the consequences for and of human rights for climate adaptation must be resisted.  We have no time to indulge ourselves in false speculations and self serving disregard of the evidence.  And there can be no room for irresponsible leadership masquerading as mere scepticism. We must move forward in addressing climate change and its impacts on human rights. In that Geneva Pledge States are uniquely situated to lead, to demand stepped-up ambition, to facilitate better cooperation, and to call for help for those who need it most.

Indeed, they have pledged to do just this. Signatories have agreed to promote and respect human rights in climate action, ensure that no one is left behind, and foster a continuing climate justice dialogue between climate change and human rights experts, all with an aim toward achieving a better future for all humankind.

Ladies and gentlemen,

A world of climate change unchecked is a world where forests burn to ashes, islands disappear beneath rising tides, where glaciers melt away, tundra desiccate and coral reefs are bleached white as the bones of the long deceased. 

That world is also one in which hundreds of thousands die prematurely, millions go hungry, are driven from their homes, where conflict proliferates and desperation flourishes.  Such a world is a graveyard for entire ways of living, entire ecosystems and entire peoples.

But this need not be our future. But to avert it, we must recognize that climate change and its consequences are not an accident of nature, but the result of choices made by human beings in both the public and the private spheres.  And thus, we must recognise that new and different human action can and must be taken - ambitious, concerted action in line with State human rights obligations. Indeed, international human rights law places affirmative legal obligations on all States, acting individually and collectively, to take the necessary steps in law, policy, institutions, and public budgets to protect human rights from climate harms and redress them where they occur.

How? By protection and empowerment of the vulnerable. Through free, active and meaningful participation of civil society and affected communities. By ensuring justice for those harmed by climate change. Upholding non-discrimination and equity in climate policies. Requiring accountability for breach of human right obligations. Remedy for climate harms.
Such climate action in which human rights are fully integrated - must be evidence-based, scaled up, and designed to promote human dignity.

But States do not bear sole responsibility for averting climate change and its impacts. Many in the private sector have disregarded their responsibility to respect human rights in the context of climate change and in some cases have intentionally obfuscated the truth about climate risks. They too must be responsible and accountable partners in climate sensitive development that respects human rights.

Now is the time for States to translate the aspirations of the Paris Agreement into more specific commitments and actions that will benefit both people and planet. This begins with ensuring a rulebook for implementation of the Paris Agreement that integrates human rights considerations throughout. And it is called for in the Agreement itself.

Transparency, for example, is both an explicit commitment in the context of the Paris Agreement and a fundamental principle of human rights and environmental law found in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and other human rights instruments as well as Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development.

More than anything, transparency empowers people to demand justice. It exposes flawed arguments, weak justifications and lies. It catalyzes action. That is shy the transparency framework of the Paris Agreement, the modalities of which are being negotiated even now should ensure a fair assessment of whether mitigation and adaptation actions taken by parties are in line with their commitments under the Paris Agreement to respect, promote and consider human rights when taking climate action.

It could draw on existing international reporting mechanisms, including relevant observations by human rights mechanisms so as to reflect a comprehensive approach and foster coherence and synergies across the human rights, development and climate spheres.

The act of transforming words into action to preserve this planet from the threat of climate change must be taken collectively. No State can address this threat alone.

This is why guidelines for reviewing State commitment under the Paris Agreement should be developed that facilitate the open exchange of ideas and incorporate full participation among and between civil society and other relevant actors at national and international levels.

As we move from Paris to Marrakech and now onward to Bonn, let us all make a commitment to honor the fundamental objectives of the Paris Agreement to realize the future we want for our children and next generations. And to do so, let us create an adequate transparency framework for climate action, one that will empower all stakeholders to hold governments accountable for their climate commitments. We can do this together. Thank you.