States’ Human Rights Obligations in the Context of Climate Change

The report examines the increasing engagement of UN human rights treaty bodies (HRTBs) with climate change, specifically analyzing their 2018 Concluding Observations (COBs), general comments, and thematic initiatives. It highlights a shift toward addressing a broader diversity of countries, including developed nations, and identifies a continuing emphasis on adaptation and procedural rights over mitigation. The document provides detailed syntheses of recommendations from the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), and the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), emphasizing the disproportionate impacts of climate change on women, children, and persons with disabilities.

• There has been a continuous increase in the number of Concluding Observations (COBs) addressing climate change since 2008, with a significant rise starting in 2016 and a record number of references in 2018.
• Historically, HRTBs focused climate recommendations on small island developing States (SIDS) and least developed countries (LDCs), who received 52% of all references over the past decade despite representing only 31% of reviewed countries. However, in 2018, recommendations were directed to a broader diversity of countries, including a significant increase for developed nations.
• The majority of HRTB climate-related references focus on adaptation (40%) and procedural rights (33%), while mitigation accounts for only 9% of references between 2008 and 2018. In 2018, procedural rights (35%) slightly overtook adaptation (34%) as the most common category.
• The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) maintains a stronger focus on mitigation than other committees, with 20% of its 2018 climate recommendations addressing this area, including specific calls for Argentina to reconsider hydraulic fracturing in the Vaca Muerta region.
• The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) emphasizes that climate impacts are not gender neutral and requires States to ensure women's meaningful participation in climate decision-making and the integration of gender perspectives into disaster risk reduction (DRR).
• The Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) frequently recommends that States integrate climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction into school curricula to increase children's awareness and preparedness.
• The Human Rights Committee adopted General Comment No. 36 in November 2018, which identifies environmental degradation, climate change, and unsustainable development as some of the most serious threats to the right to life for present and future generations.

APA

Duyck, S., Holtz, J., & Mckernan, L. (2019). States’ Human Rights Obligations in the Context of Climate Change. Center for International Environmental Law. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/HRTB-Feb.-2019-update-2019-03-25.pdf

Chicago

Duyck, Sébastien, Jolein Holtz, and Lucy Mckernan. States’ Human Rights Obligations in the Context of Climate Change. Center for International Environmental Law, 2019. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/HRTB-Feb.-2019-update-2019-03-25.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Duyck |first1=Sébastien |last2=Holtz |first2=Jolein |last3=Mckernan |first3=Lucy |title=States’ Human Rights Obligations in the Context of Climate Change |publisher=Center for International Environmental Law |date=February 2019 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/HRTB-Feb.-2019-update-2019-03-25.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{duyck2019states, author = {Duyck, Sébastien and Holtz, Jolein and Mckernan, Lucy}, title = {{States’ Human Rights Obligations in the Context of Climate Change}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2019}, month = feb, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/HRTB-Feb.-2019-update-2019-03-25.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }