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

The document outlines how the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) has begun integrating climate change into its human rights oversight, specifically regarding the rights of Indigenous Peoples and people of African descent. It details specific recommendations made to El Salvador, Mexico, Guyana, and the Netherlands, while noting that climate-related outputs remain a small fraction of the Committee's total work. The report also highlights the influence of UN Special Rapporteurs, the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, and NGOs in pushing for a human rights-based approach to environmental racism and climate justice.

• The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) has only recently started addressing climate change, with its first explicit recommendations in 2019 focusing on the participation of Indigenous Peoples in climate policy making for El Salvador and Mexico.
• CERD's climate-related activity has been limited in volume, with only one climate-related output out of three in 2020 and one out of ten in 2021.
• In 2020, CERD requested that Guyana report on the connections between climate change, deforestation, oil and gas production, and the rights of Indigenous Peoples, including whether oil and gas profits benefit all ethnic groups without discrimination.
• In 2021, the Committee expressed concern regarding the lack of support for Dutch Caribbean islands facing climate change effects and recommended that the Netherlands conduct studies on these negative impacts and protect vulnerable groups.

APA

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

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. States’ Human Rights Obligations in the Context of Climate Change: CERD. n.d. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Racial-Discrimination-Obligations-of-States-in-the-Context-of-Climate-Changejan23.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=States’ Human Rights Obligations in the Context of Climate Change: CERD |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Racial-Discrimination-Obligations-of-States-in-the-Context-of-Climate-Changejan23.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: CERD}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Racial-Discrimination-Obligations-of-States-in-the-Context-of-Climate-Changejan23.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }