States’ Human Rights Obligations in the Context of Climate Change: CEDAW

This report by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) and the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR) outlines the obligations of States under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) regarding climate change. It details how the CEDAW Committee addresses the disproportionate impact of climate change on women—particularly rural and older women—and emphasizes the necessity of gender-responsive climate policies, the participation of women in decision-making, and the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions to protect women's human rights.

• The CEDAW Committee asserts that climate change disproportionately affects women, with older women being particularly vulnerable due to physiological differences, age, gender, social norms, and inequitable resource distribution. Consequently, the Committee mandates that disaster risk-reduction and climate measures be gender-responsive and that older women be included in decision-making for adaptation and mitigation.
• Rural women face specific threats from climate change, and States are obligated to ensure they have a safe, clean, and healthy environment. The CEDAW Committee emphasizes that rural women must be fully involved in the design, planning, and implementation of policies concerning the environment, climate change, and disaster management.
• A draft General Recommendation from 2016 identifies the limitation of greenhouse gas emissions, the reduction of fossil fuel use, and the mitigation of harmful effects from extractive industries (such as fracking and mining) as essential steps to reduce the negative human rights impacts of climate change. It further states that climate mitigation and adaptation must follow principles of accountability, transparency, non-discrimination, empowerment, rule of law, and participation.
• The CEDAW Committee has used its Concluding Observations to link the extraction of fossil fuels to the violation of women's rights. For example, in the case of Norway, the Committee stated that expanding oil and gas extraction in the Arctic undermines obligations to ensure women's substantive equality because climate change disproportionately impacts women, especially those in poverty who rely on natural resources.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (n.d.). States’ Human Rights Obligations in the Context of Climate Change: CEDAW. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/HRTBs-synthesis-report-CEDAW.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. States’ Human Rights Obligations in the Context of Climate Change: CEDAW. n.d. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/HRTBs-synthesis-report-CEDAW.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=States’ Human Rights Obligations in the Context of Climate Change: CEDAW |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/HRTBs-synthesis-report-CEDAW.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centerforinternationalenvironmentallawndstates, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{States’ Human Rights Obligations in the Context of Climate Change: CEDAW}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/HRTBs-synthesis-report-CEDAW.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }