States’ Human Rights Obligations in the Context of Climate Change

This report by the Center for International Environmental Law and the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights analyzes the 2022 activities of seven UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies (HRTBs) regarding climate change. It documents an increase in climate-related references in State reporting procedures and highlights key developments in General Comments and individual communications, specifically the landmark Billy et al. v. Australia case.

• Human Rights Treaty Bodies (HRTBs) have increased their engagement with climate change in State reporting procedures. In 2022, they issued 95 climate-related references across Concluding Observations (COBs), Lists of Issues (LOIs), and Lists of Issues Prior to Reporting (LOIPRs), representing 52 percent of total outputs from the seven most relevant bodies.
• The Human Rights Committee (CCPR) issued a groundbreaking decision in Billy et al. v. Australia (3624/2019), marking the first time an HRTB established a State party's duty to protect people under its jurisdiction from climate change impacts and the obligation to provide effective remedy.
• HRTBs are increasingly addressing the incompatibility of fossil fuel production and exports with human rights obligations. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) specifically noted this incompatibility in relation to the Paris Agreement in its interactions with Australia, Italy, and Bahrain.
• The Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is developing General Comment No. 26 on children's rights and the environment, which identifies a safe climate as a substantive element of the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment and suggests phasing out coal, oil, and natural gas.
• The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) adopted General Recommendation No. 39 (2022) on the rights of Indigenous women and girls, emphasizing that extractive activities by business and public actors often have devastating impacts on their environments and rights.
• The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) published General Comment No. 26 (2022) on land and economic, social and cultural rights, stating that mitigation policies should lead to absolute emissions reductions through the phasing out of fossil fuel production and use.
• HRTBs emphasize the obligation of States to regulate private business actors to prevent human rights violations linked to climate change, including extraterritorial obligations to prevent harm caused by companies domiciled within their territory.
• The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) significantly increased its climate-related outputs in 2022 and is preparing a General Comment on article 11 of the ICRPD regarding the protection of persons with disabilities in situations of risk and natural disasters.

APA

Mingrone, F., Vandamme, L., & Duyck, S. (2023). States’ Human Rights Obligations in the Context of Climate Change. Center for International Environmental Law. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/States-Human-Rights-Obligations-in-the-Context-of-Climate-Change-2023.pdf

Chicago

Mingrone, Francesca, Lien Vandamme, and Sébastien Duyck. States’ Human Rights Obligations in the Context of Climate Change. Center for International Environmental Law, 2023. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/States-Human-Rights-Obligations-in-the-Context-of-Climate-Change-2023.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Mingrone |first1=Francesca |last2=Vandamme |first2=Lien |last3=Duyck |first3=Sébastien |title=States’ Human Rights Obligations in the Context of Climate Change |publisher=Center for International Environmental Law |date=May 2023 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/States-Human-Rights-Obligations-in-the-Context-of-Climate-Change-2023.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{mingrone2023states, author = {Mingrone, Francesca and Vandamme, Lien and Duyck, Sébastien}, title = {{States’ Human Rights Obligations in the Context of Climate Change}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2023}, month = may, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/States-Human-Rights-Obligations-in-the-Context-of-Climate-Change-2023.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }