Integrating Human Rights in Climate Action

This briefing tracks the integration of human rights into UN climate governance from 2010 to 2019. It highlights the progression from the Cancun Agreements to the Paris Agreement, where human rights, health, and the rights of indigenous peoples and vulnerable groups were explicitly recognized. The document details how COP decisions have mandated human rights considerations in capacity building, gender action, and loss and damage. It also reports that by December 2017, 76 Parties had referenced human rights in national reports and 24 countries had included them in their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions.

• Since 2010, human rights have been increasingly integrated into UN Climate Agreements, starting with the Cancun Agreements (Decision 1/CP.16), which recognized that climate change has human rights impacts and emphasized the need for parties to respect human rights and the rights of indigenous peoples in climate action.
• The 2015 Paris Climate Agreement includes a preamble stating that parties should respect, promote, and consider obligations regarding human rights, the right to health, the right to development, gender equality, intergenerational equity, and the rights of specific groups including children, migrants, persons with disabilities, local communities, and indigenous peoples.
• Following the Paris Agreement, the COP has mandated the consideration of human rights in several work areas, including the Gender Action Plan (2017), the Paris Committee on Capacity Building (2016), the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform (2017 and 2018), and policies addressing displacement via the Warsaw International Mechanism on Loss and Damage (2018).
• Human rights are addressed in national reports and commitments submitted to the UNFCCC Secretariat. By December 2017, 76 Parties explicitly referenced human rights in national reports (National Communications and NAPAs). Additionally, 24 countries mentioned human rights in their 2015 Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs), with 17 citing them as a guiding principle for implementation and 7 referencing them within domestic legal frameworks.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (2019). Integrating Human Rights in Climate Action. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/HumanRightsHooks_UNFCCC_final.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. Integrating Human Rights in Climate Action. 2019. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/HumanRightsHooks_UNFCCC_final.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=Integrating Human Rights in Climate Action |date=February 2019 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/HumanRightsHooks_UNFCCC_final.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centerforinternationalenvironmentallaw2019integrating, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{Integrating Human Rights in Climate Action}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2019}, month = feb, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/HumanRightsHooks_UNFCCC_final.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }