States’ Human Rights Obligations in the Context of Climate Change

This report by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) and the Global Initiative for Economic, Social & Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR) analyzes the 2023 activities of UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies (HRTBs) regarding states' human rights obligations in the context of climate change. It tracks the increasing frequency of climate-related references in state reporting procedures and examines specific themes such as fossil fuel extraction, the right to a healthy environment, loss and damage, and intergenerational equity.

• Human Rights Treaty Bodies (HRTBs) showed a steady increase in addressing climate change within their state reporting procedures, with 112 references in 2023 (comprising 60 Concluding Observations and 52 Lists of Issues/Lists of Issues Prior to Reporting), representing 46.5 percent of total outputs.
• The Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) finalized General Comment No. 26 (2023), which explicitly recognizes the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment as implicit in the Convention and identifies its substantive elements as including clean air, a safe and stable climate, healthy ecosystems and biodiversity, safe and sufficient water, healthy and sustainable food, and non-toxic environments.
• HRTBs are increasingly focusing on the human rights implications of fossil fuel production, with 26 outputs in 2023 mentioning fossil fuels. The report highlights that the main path for states to remain human rights compliant is the rapid phase-out of fossil fuels, and notes that developed countries must lead these efforts as historical main producers.
• The report identifies a gap in HRTB engagement regarding carbon markets and offsets, noting that these mechanisms often lead to land grabs and violations of the free, prior, and informed consent of Indigenous Peoples, while failing to effectively reduce overall emissions.
• There is an emerging focus on intergenerational equity and the rights of future generations. The CRC's General Comment No. 26 (2023) states that states are responsible for foreseeable environment-related threats resulting from current acts or omissions, even if the full implications manifest decades later.
• Loss and damage are increasingly linked to the right to remedy and reparations. In 2023, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) specifically recommended that states support the creation and operation of the Loss and Damage Fund established at COP27.
• The report notes that the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee's August 2023 report on new technologies for climate protection warns that geoengineering technologies are largely unproven and could cause physical, political, and social risks to frontline communities and Indigenous Peoples.

APA

Mingrone, F., & Monagas, M. B. R. (2024). States’ Human Rights Obligations in the Context of Climate Change. Center for International Environmental Law. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/HRTB-Synthesis-Note-2024_CIEL_GIESCR.pdf

Chicago

Mingrone, Francesca, and Magdalena Belén Rochi Monagas. States’ Human Rights Obligations in the Context of Climate Change. Center for International Environmental Law, 2024. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/HRTB-Synthesis-Note-2024_CIEL_GIESCR.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Mingrone |first1=Francesca |last2=Monagas |first2=Magdalena Belén Rochi |title=States’ Human Rights Obligations in the Context of Climate Change |publisher=Center for International Environmental Law |date=August 2024 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/HRTB-Synthesis-Note-2024_CIEL_GIESCR.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{mingrone2024states, author = {Mingrone, Francesca and Monagas, Magdalena Belén Rochi}, title = {{States’ Human Rights Obligations in the Context of Climate Change}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2024}, month = aug, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/HRTB-Synthesis-Note-2024_CIEL_GIESCR.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }