States’ Human Rights Obligations in the Context of Climate Change

This report analyzes the evolving jurisprudence of UN human rights treaty bodies (HRTBs) from 2008 to 2019, concluding that States have legal obligations under human rights treaties to implement ambitious climate mitigation (including phasing out fossil fuels), ensure inclusive adaptation, and provide international cooperation. Key developments include a 2019 joint statement by five HRTBs and the Human Rights Committee's recognition that climate change threatens the right to life, potentially triggering non-refoulment obligations in deportation cases.

• In September 2019, five UN human rights treaty bodies (CEDAW, CESCR, CRC, CMW, and CRPD) issued a joint statement asserting that States must implement emissions cuts with the highest possible ambition. This includes phasing out fossil fuels, promoting renewable energy, and ensuring financial flows are consistent with low-emissions pathways. The statement warns that failing to prevent foreseeable human rights harm from climate change or failing to regulate activities contributing to such harm could violate States' human rights obligations.
• The Human Rights Committee's General Comment No. 36 identifies climate change, environmental degradation, and unsustainable development as some of the most serious threats to the right to life for present and future generations. It establishes a due diligence obligation for States to take reasonable positive measures against foreseeable threats to life originating from private entities not attributable to the State.
• The Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) emphasizes that children must be central to climate change discourse and that their views must be heard and considered. Between 2008 and 2019, the CRC issued 41 recommendations and 15 Lists of Issues on climate change, with a strong focus on adaptation (32 COBs) and procedural rights, including the integration of climate change into school curricula.
• The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) has specifically recommended that States reduce public and private investments in the fossil fuel industry. For example, it urged Argentina to reconsider large-scale unconventional fossil fuel exploitation via hydraulic fracturing in the Vaca Muerta region to comply with the Paris Agreement.
• The Human Rights Committee (CCPR) ruled in a case against New Zealand that while a specific petition was rejected, climate change impacts can expose individuals to violations of the right to life and may trigger non-refoulment obligations (the obligation not to deport people). The Committee accepted that Kiribati would be uninhabitable in 10-15 years due to sea level rise.
• HRTBs have increasingly focused on the vulnerability of specific groups, including women, children, persons with disabilities, Indigenous Peoples, and those in rural areas. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) has made the highest number of climate-related recommendations (46 Concluding Observations) and questions (27 Lists of Issues) between 2008 and 2019.

APA

Mckernan, L., Arena, C., & Duyck, S. (2020). States’ Human Rights Obligations in the Context of Climate Change. Center for International Environmental Law. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/States-Human-Rights-Obligations-in-the-Context-of-Climate-Change_2020-Update.pdf

Chicago

Mckernan, Lucy, Chiara Arena, and Sébastien Duyck. States’ Human Rights Obligations in the Context of Climate Change. Center for International Environmental Law, 2020. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/States-Human-Rights-Obligations-in-the-Context-of-Climate-Change_2020-Update.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Mckernan |first1=Lucy |last2=Arena |first2=Chiara |last3=Duyck |first3=Sébastien |title=States’ Human Rights Obligations in the Context of Climate Change |publisher=Center for International Environmental Law |date=March 2020 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/States-Human-Rights-Obligations-in-the-Context-of-Climate-Change_2020-Update.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{mckernan2020states, author = {Mckernan, Lucy and Arena, Chiara and Duyck, Sébastien}, title = {{States’ Human Rights Obligations in the Context of Climate Change}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2020}, month = mar, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/States-Human-Rights-Obligations-in-the-Context-of-Climate-Change_2020-Update.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }