PETITIONING FOR ADVERSE IMPACTS OF GLOBAL WARMING IN THE INTER-AMERICAN HUMAN RIGHTS SYSTEM

The document argues that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is a viable forum for indigenous Arctic peoples to seek redress for global warming impacts, such as melting sea ice and thawing permafrost, which threaten their rights to life, health, property, and culture. While the Commission cannot force emissions reductions or compensation, a formal finding of human rights violations would provide a legal basis for accountability and increase global pressure on major emitters like the United States.

• Indigenous Arctic communities, including the Inuit, Yupik, and Inupiat, face severe threats to fundamental rights due to global warming, including the rights to life, personal security, property, health, and the benefits of culture.
• Global warming is causing devastating physical changes in the Arctic, such as melting sea ice that disrupts hunting cycles and thawing permafrost that destroys infrastructure. In Shishmaref, Alaska, seawater has contaminated drinking water and caused houses to fall into the sea, making the relocation of the entire village appear inevitable.
• Rising temperatures in Alaska have led to increased forest and tundra ecosystem damage, specifically through spruce bark beetle outbreaks that caused over 2.3 million acres of tree mortality on the Kenai Peninsula and a steady increase in annual acreage burned by forest fires since 1970.
• The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is identified as a more responsive forum than the U.N. system because it can receive petitions from private citizens against any OAS member state, regardless of whether that state has ratified the American Convention on Human Rights.
• The authors argue that the Commission's jurisdiction can be extended extraterritorially, meaning Arctic inhabitants outside the U.S. could potentially bring claims against the U.S. because the Commission has recognized that human rights obligations are not strictly limited to national territory.
• Several rights within the American Declaration are applicable to global warming claims, including the right to life (Art. I), the right to residence and movement (Art. VIII), the right to inviolability of the home (Art. IX), and the right to the preservation of health and well-being (Art. XI).

APA

Goldberg, D. M., & Wagner, M. (n.d.). PETITIONING FOR ADVERSE IMPACTS OF GLOBAL WARMING IN THE INTER-AMERICAN HUMAN RIGHTS SYSTEM. Center for International Environmental Law. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Petitioning_GlobalWarming_IAHR.pdf

Chicago

Goldberg, Donald M., and Martin Wagner. PETITIONING FOR ADVERSE IMPACTS OF GLOBAL WARMING IN THE INTER-AMERICAN HUMAN RIGHTS SYSTEM. Center for International Environmental Law, n.d. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Petitioning_GlobalWarming_IAHR.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Goldberg |first1=Donald M. |last2=Wagner |first2=Martin |title=PETITIONING FOR ADVERSE IMPACTS OF GLOBAL WARMING IN THE INTER-AMERICAN HUMAN RIGHTS SYSTEM |publisher=Center for International Environmental Law |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Petitioning_GlobalWarming_IAHR.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{goldbergndpetitioning, author = {Goldberg, Donald M. and Wagner, Martin}, title = {{PETITIONING FOR ADVERSE IMPACTS OF GLOBAL WARMING IN THE INTER-AMERICAN HUMAN RIGHTS SYSTEM}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Petitioning_GlobalWarming_IAHR.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }