Interactive Dialogue with the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee

The Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) submitted a statement to the Human Rights Council on September 28, 2023, arguing that geoengineering technologies are incompatible with human rights and should not be deployed or developed.

• Geoengineering technologies are described as unproven, unavailable, and unfeasible at scale, failing to address the root causes of climate change. Solar radiation modification and ocean fertilization may disrupt ecological systems and weather patterns, threatening food security and livelihoods globally. Carbon Dioxide Removal methods, including enhanced weathering and direct air capture, are deemed non-viable due to high resource and energy demands, inefficacy, and ecosystem impacts.
• The deployment of geoengineering is being used by governments and corporations as a justification to avoid the rapid scaling of renewable energy and the phase-out of fossil fuels.
• Existing legal frameworks, including the precautionary approach and States' human rights obligations, imply a duty to avoid the development or deployment of geoengineering due to risks to present and future generations. Some multilateral environmental agreements already prohibit outdoor experimentation or deployment of climate geoengineering.
• Unregulated geoengineering experiments are occurring globally, frequently within delicate ecosystems and on territories of Indigenous Peoples without Free, Prior, and Informed Consent.
• To keep global average temperature increases below 1.5 degrees Celsius, the primary paths must be energy demand reduction, ecosystem restoration, a rapid roll-out of renewable energy, and a 'full, fast, funded, fair fossil fuel phase-out'. The Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty initiative is identified as a platform for a global binding instrument to achieve a fossil-free future.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (2023). Interactive Dialogue with the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/HRC54-ID-with-Advisory-Committee-1.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. Interactive Dialogue with the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee. 2023. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/HRC54-ID-with-Advisory-Committee-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=Interactive Dialogue with the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee |date=28 September 2023 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/HRC54-ID-with-Advisory-Committee-1.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centerforinternationalenvironmentallaw2023interactive, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{Interactive Dialogue with the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee}}, publisher = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2023}, month = sep, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/HRC54-ID-with-Advisory-Committee-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }