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

The document outlines the CESCR's monitoring of the ICESCR, highlighting how climate change threatens substantive rights such as the right to water, food, and health. It details the Committee's increasing use of Concluding Observations to urge States to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, transition to renewable energy, and protect vulnerable groups, particularly indigenous peoples, from climate impacts.

• The ICESCR protects several substantive rights that are particularly vulnerable to climate change, including the right to an adequate standard of living (which encompasses food and housing), the right to water, the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, and the right not to be deprived of one's own means of subsistence.
• In General Comment No. 15 (2002), the CESCR specified that States must implement integrated strategies and programmes to ensure safe and sufficient water for future and present generations, which includes assessing how climate change impacts natural-ecosystem watersheds and water availability.
• The CESCR has increasingly used Concluding Observations to address climate change, frequently noting that climate impacts threaten Covenant-protected rights and specifically highlighting the disproportionate effects on indigenous peoples.
• The Committee has urged specific States to take concrete actions to mitigate climate change and protect human rights, such as recommending that Russia set time-bound benchmarks for greenhouse gas emission reductions and advising Australia to review its support for coal exports and mines.
• The CESCR has emphasized the need for States to transition away from fossil fuels, recommending the pursuit of renewable energy and the requirement for impact assessments and community consultations before using non-conventional fossil energies.

APA

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

Chicago

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

Wikipedia

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