Human Rights Obligations of States in the Context of Climate Change

This briefing by the Center for International Environmental Law and the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights reviews the activities of the UN Human Rights Committee (CCPR) regarding climate change during 2020 and 2021. It details the Committee's increasing focus on climate-related recommendations, its inquiries into fossil fuel extraction and public participation, and the implications of specific individual communications on state obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

• The Human Rights Committee (CCPR) has increased its engagement with climate change issues, raising the number of recommendations and questions to States from four in 2019 to seven in 2020 and eight in 2021. While most climate-related references in 2020 and 2021 appeared in Lists of Issues (LOIs) or Lists of Issues Prior to Reporting (LOIPRs), the Committee's focus shifted slightly in 2021 to include developed nations like Germany and Canada, whereas all 2020 outputs were directed at developing countries or Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
• The CCPR has specifically questioned states on the intersection of fossil fuel extraction and human rights. In 2020, it requested information from Guyana regarding the impacts of gold mining and offshore oil production. In 2021, it questioned Tanzania on the local and global impacts of the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline and asked São Tomé and Príncipe about the exploitation of oil resources in the context of protecting vulnerable persons.
• In the case of Teitiota v. New Zealand (January 2020), the CCPR determined that while climate-related threats in Kiribati constituted a "real predicament," New Zealand did not breach non-refoulment obligations because the 10 to 15 year timeframe before Kiribati becomes uninhabitable allows the government time for affirmative action. However, the Committee acknowledged that without adequate action, climate impacts will trigger non-refoulment obligations by threatening Articles 6 and 7 of the ICCPR.
• The CCPR's 2021 Concluding Observations for Germany urged the state to follow a March 2021 Federal Constitutional Court ruling. This ruling declared Germany's Climate Change Act unconstitutional because emission levels permitted until 2030 could endanger the fundamental rights of future generations.
• Although the case of Pereira Benega v. Paraguay did not concern climate change, the CCPR found that Paraguay violated Articles 17 and 27 of the ICCPR by failing to stop illegal pesticide pollution affecting the Campo Agua’e Indigenous Community. This serves as a precedent for state obligations to prevent environmental threats to private, family, and cultural life, which will inform future interpretations of duties to prevent climate-induced threats.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (2022). Human Rights Obligations of States in the Context of Climate Change. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Human-Rights-Committee-on-Human-Rights-Obligations-of-States-in-the-Context-of-Climate-Changejan23.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. Human Rights Obligations of States in the Context of Climate Change. 2022. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Human-Rights-Committee-on-Human-Rights-Obligations-of-States-in-the-Context-of-Climate-Changejan23.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=Human Rights Obligations of States in the Context of Climate Change |date=2022 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Human-Rights-Committee-on-Human-Rights-Obligations-of-States-in-the-Context-of-Climate-Changejan23.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centerforinternationalenvironmentallaw2022human, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{Human Rights Obligations of States in the Context of Climate Change}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2022}, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Human-Rights-Committee-on-Human-Rights-Obligations-of-States-in-the-Context-of-Climate-Changejan23.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }