Seguimiento del cumplimiento de los Estados con los derechos humanos Obligaciones, en el contexto del cambio climático

This guide by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) explains how civil society can use the United Nations human rights treaty body (HRTB) reporting process to advocate for climate-related policy recommendations and hold states accountable for their human rights obligations in the context of climate change.

• Six UN human rights treaty bodies (HRTB) are identified as most likely to address climate issues due to their mandates: the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Human Rights Committee (CCPR), the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
• The state reporting process allows civil society to submit 'parallel reports' to influence the 'Concluding Observations' (COBs) issued by the committees. While COBs are not legally binding, they serve as authoritative guidance for states on treaty compliance and can be used to strengthen national advocacy and litigation.
• Participating in the reporting process offers specific advantages for climate activists, including the ability to obtain country-specific policy recommendations, shorter timelines compared to litigation, and a lack of risk regarding negative precedents, as committees typically ignore submissions they find unconvincing rather than publicly disagreeing.
• The reporting process consists of two main stages: the first involves the state's report, civil society's parallel reports, and a 'List of Issues' (LOI) consisting of 25 to 30 questions; the second stage involves a six-hour public dialogue in Geneva and the subsequent publication of Concluding Observations.
• The document highlights several examples of HRTB recommendations on climate and energy: urging Argentina to reconsider large-scale unconventional fossil fuel exploitation via fracking in Vaca Muerta; criticizing fossil fuel exports from Australia, Norway, and Canada; and questioning Sweden and Switzerland on the regulation of fossil fuel investments by financial actors.
• In Spain, the Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed concern over the impact of coal-fired power plants on children's health and the climate, recommending an impact assessment to design a strategy for remedying the situation and strictly regulating maximum atmospheric pollutant emissions.
• The guide notes a case in Norway where domestic courts ruled the state was not responsible for greenhouse gas emissions from exported oil; however, two HRTBs subsequently issued recommendations emphasizing Norway's extraterritorial human rights responsibility for those emissions.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (2020). Seguimiento del cumplimiento de los Estados con los derechos humanos Obligaciones, en el contexto del cambio climático. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Seguimiento-del-cumplimiento-de-los-Estados-con-los-derechos-humanos-obligacions-en-el-contexto-de-cambio-climatico_ES.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. Seguimiento del cumplimiento de los Estados con los derechos humanos Obligaciones, en el contexto del cambio climático. 2020. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Seguimiento-del-cumplimiento-de-los-Estados-con-los-derechos-humanos-obligacions-en-el-contexto-de-cambio-climatico_ES.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=Seguimiento del cumplimiento de los Estados con los derechos humanos Obligaciones, en el contexto del cambio climático |date=January 2020 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Seguimiento-del-cumplimiento-de-los-Estados-con-los-derechos-humanos-obligacions-en-el-contexto-de-cambio-climatico_ES.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centerforinternationalenvironmentallaw2020seguimiento, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{Seguimiento del cumplimiento de los Estados con los derechos humanos Obligaciones, en el contexto del cambio climático}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2020}, month = jan, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Seguimiento-del-cumplimiento-de-los-Estados-con-los-derechos-humanos-obligacions-en-el-contexto-de-cambio-climatico_ES.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }