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

This report by the Stockholm Environment Institute reviews 15 multisectoral National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) to assess the integration of human rights principles. The analysis finds that human rights are not systematically referenced or used to guide the planning and implementation processes in the majority of the reviewed documents, despite the obligations outlined in the Paris Agreement.

• Human rights are not systematically integrated into National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), with few countries mentioning them directly or using them to guide the NAP process.
• The review of 15 NAPs showed that while human rights are referenced both directly and indirectly in all of them, the approach varies significantly by country context.
• Fiji and Brazil are identified as the strongest examples of human rights integration. Fiji specifically integrated a human rights-based approach into its plan's structure, recognizing that climate sensitivity and adaptive capacity vary across social and economic groups.
• Existing thematic guidance for NAPs covers sectors such as health, agriculture, and gender, but lacks a holistic human rights approach, often failing to use rights-based language to emphasize State obligations.
• Direct references to human rights in the reviewed NAPs often focus on specific rights such as the right to water, the rights of indigenous peoples, and the right to a healthy environment.
• Indirect references to human rights are common, particularly regarding gender equality and the participation of stakeholders, though terms like 'dignity', 'liberty', and 'due process' received no hits in the reviewed documents.
• Food and water security are the most frequently mentioned terms in the NAPs, yet they are rarely framed as substantive human rights.
• The report proposes a rights-based approach to adaptive capacity based on four principles: equality, transparency, accountability, and empowerment.
• To improve future NAPs, the report suggests utilizing specific entry points across social, political, administrative, and legal dimensions to institutionalize human rights obligations.

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} }