Delivering on the Paris Promises: Combating Climate Change while Protecting Rights

The document advocates for a rights-based approach to the implementation of the Paris Agreement, specifically through the 'Paris Rule Book'. It emphasizes that climate actions must respect existing international obligations regarding human rights, indigenous peoples' rights, gender equality, food security, just transition, and ecosystem integrity. The briefing provides specific recommendations for integrating these principles into Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), Adaptation Communications, the Transparency Framework, and the Global Stocktake to ensure policy coherence and protect vulnerable populations from potential rights abuses caused by climate mitigation and adaptation projects.

• The Paris Agreement's preamble explicitly requires states to "respect, promote and consider their respective obligations on human rights" when addressing climate change, particularly for those disproportionately affected such as women, children, migrants, people with disabilities, and indigenous peoples.
• Climate mitigation and adaptation measures can inadvertently cause human rights abuses, such as the displacement of indigenous peoples and violations of free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) through large hydropower plants, biofuel plantations, or poorly designed adaptation projects.
• Indigenous peoples represent 5 percent of the global population but 15 percent of the world's poorest, while their lands contain 80 percent of the planet's biodiversity.
• To ensure policy coherence, Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) should be designed participatively and include information on how governments will respect principles such as food security, gender equality, and a just transition.
• Adaptation Communications should follow a gender-responsive and transparent approach, prioritizing the resilience of the most vulnerable and incorporating traditional and indigenous knowledge.
• The Transparency Framework should expand beyond emissions and financial accounting to report on how parties fulfill human rights obligations, with land sector emissions reported separately from industrial emissions.
• The Global Stocktake should include a dedicated stream to review how climate action contributes to the respect and promotion of social principles, ensuring that collective ambition is assessed through the lens of human rights.

APA

Duyck, S., Lennon, E., Sherpa, L. N., Rawe, T., Rosemberg, A., Wessendorf, K., Petersen, L. M. L., Camacho, M., & Uribe, J. V. (n.d.). Delivering on the Paris Promises: Combating Climate Change while Protecting Rights. Center for International Environmental Law. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Delivering-On-Paris-Web.pdf

Chicago

Duyck, Sébastien, Erika Lennon, Lapka Nuri Sherpa, Tonya Rawe, Anabella Rosemberg, Kathrin Wessendorf, Lærke Marie Lund Petersen, Monica Camacho, and Juliana Vélez Uribe. Delivering on the Paris Promises: Combating Climate Change while Protecting Rights. Center for International Environmental Law, n.d. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Delivering-On-Paris-Web.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{duycknddelivering, author = {Duyck, Sébastien and Lennon, Erika and Sherpa, Lapka Nuri and Rawe, Tonya and Rosemberg, Anabella and Wessendorf, Kathrin and Petersen, Lærke Marie Lund and Camacho, Monica and Uribe, Juliana Vélez}, title = {{Delivering on the Paris Promises: Combating Climate Change while Protecting Rights}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Delivering-On-Paris-Web.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }