Integrating Human Rights in Climate Action

The document outlines the progressive emergence of human rights as a crosscutting issue within UN climate governance since 2010. It details specific references in the Cancun Agreements and the Paris Agreement, the role of UNFCCC constituted bodies in applying human rights standards, and the extent to which State Parties have included human rights in their national reports and Nationally Determined Contributions.

• Human rights have been increasingly integrated into UN climate agreements since 2010, starting with the Cancun Agreements which recognized that climate change impacts human rights and emphasized the need for parties to respect these rights in climate action, particularly for indigenous peoples.
• The 2015 Paris Climate Agreement's preamble explicitly states 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.
• Various UNFCCC constituted bodies and funds have incorporated human rights into their mandates or operations, including the Paris Committee on Capacity Building, the Warsaw International Mechanism on Loss and Damage, the Green Climate Fund, and the Adaptation Fund, the latter two focusing on safeguards and remedies for project compliance.
• State Parties have explicitly referenced human rights in national submissions to the UNFCCC: by December 2017, 76 Parties included them in national reports (National Communications and NAPAs), and 24 countries included them in their 2015 Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs).

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} }