Human Rights in the Process of National Adaptation Planning: Insights from a Review of Submitted NAPs

The report finds that human rights are not systematically referenced in the reviewed NAPs, with few countries using them to guide the planning or implementation process. While some plans, notably Fiji's, demonstrate a strong commitment to human rights-based approaches, most others only make indirect or superficial references to rights. The authors argue for the development of detailed guidance to integrate social, political, administrative, and legal entry points into the NAP process to better protect vulnerable groups.

• Human rights are not systematically integrated into National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), and few countries use them to guide any part of the NAP process.
• Fiji's NAP is highlighted as an exemplary model for integrating human rights, as it explicitly promotes a human rights-based approach and provides tools for operationalization, such as training for government representatives and participatory budgeting.
• Brazil's NAP demonstrates a strong but scattered use of rights-based language, specifically referencing rights to water, housing, and the rights of indigenous and extractive communities.
• Existing thematic guidance for NAPs (covering sectors like forestry, gender, and health) lacks a holistic human rights approach, often focusing on specific sectors without using rights-based language to emphasize State obligations.
• While 'equality' is frequently mentioned in NAPs, it most commonly refers to gender equality and equitable representation rather than a broader human rights framework.
• Health and water are the most referenced terms across all studied NAPs, yet they are rarely framed as fundamental human rights.
• The report proposes four primary entry points for integrating a rights-based approach into adaptive capacity: social (community empowerment), political (awareness raising and alliance building), administrative (capacity building and relationship building), and legal (litigation and strategic use of law).

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2022). Human Rights in the Process of National Adaptation Planning: Insights from a Review of Submitted NAPs. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/human-rights-in-the-process-of-national-adaptation-planning-insights-from-a-review-of-submitted-naps.pdf

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Human Rights in the Process of National Adaptation Planning: Insights from a Review of Submitted NAPs. 2022. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/human-rights-in-the-process-of-national-adaptation-planning-insights-from-a-review-of-submitted-naps.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Human Rights in the Process of National Adaptation Planning: Insights from a Review of Submitted NAPs |date=April 2022 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/human-rights-in-the-process-of-national-adaptation-planning-insights-from-a-review-of-submitted-naps.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2022human, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Human Rights in the Process of National Adaptation Planning: Insights from a Review of Submitted NAPs}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2022}, month = apr, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/human-rights-in-the-process-of-national-adaptation-planning-insights-from-a-review-of-submitted-naps.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }