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

The report outlines how the CEDAW Committee interprets States' obligations to ensure gender-responsive climate action, emphasizing the particular vulnerabilities of rural and older women and the necessity of women's participation in decision-making.

• The CEDAW Committee asserts that climate change impacts women differently, with older women being particularly disadvantaged due to physiological differences, age, gender, social norms, and inequitable resource distribution. Consequently, States must ensure disaster risk-reduction and climate measures are gender-responsive and include older women in decision-making.
• Rural women face specific threats from climate change and are disproportionately affected by sea-level rise and other disasters because of their heavy reliance on natural resources for survival. States are obligated to ensure rural women have a safe, clean, and healthy environment and are fully involved in designing and implementing environmental and climate policies.
• 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 like fracking and mining as essential steps to reduce the negative human rights impacts of climate change. It further argues that the prohibition of discrimination against women requires States to mitigate climate change effectively.

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} }