• Energy Research

Human rights-based approaches to climate change promise to address the intergenerational injustices of climate change by incorporating an enhanced consideration of the needs of future generations. Yet, a number of questions arise when one contemplates how international human rights law might accommodate the rights of persons as yet unborn. Among them are the theoretical questions of whether it is possible for future generations to possess human rights and for present generations to owe them corresponding duties. Assuming that such a theoretical conceptualisation is possible, a number of legal issues are present in attempting to protect the rights of future generations within current international human rights law, including the question of how the rights of future generations can be balanced against those of current generations. The paper will examine a number of domestic measures designed to protect the rights of future generations and consider how such mechanisms might contribute to a rights-based approach to resolving intergenerational climate injustice.

Around the world, young activists are demanding stronger action from governments to address the climate emergency and to ensure intergenerational climate justice. An emerging strategy in this fight has been the use of litigation, particularly within human rights frameworks. This article analyses two current human rights-based climate cases brought by children and young people, Sacchi et al. v Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany and Turkey, a petition to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, and Duarte Agostinho & Ors v Portugal & Ors, a case pending before the European Court of Human Rights. It argues that these cases have the potential to advance the frontiers of both children’s rights and environmental rights, as they offer an opportunity for human rights bodies to clarify a number of issues relevant to rights-based approaches to climate change. The cases also show the potential of climate litigation to empower young people and elevate their voices within climate decision-making.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was the only multilateral environmental agreement to emerge from the Earth Summit in 1992 which did not include any references to gender. Recognition of gender within the UNFCCC has been exceedingly slow and largely tokenistic with a focus on ensuring ‘gender balance’ within UNFCCC meetings and processes. This article explores the emergence of gender language within the UNFCCC by reflecting upon: where we have come from; where we are now; and where we are going with respect with gender. While there was very little progress in the early days of the UNFCCC, this article shows that from 2001 onwards there have been a series of small gains, which will be explained and critique. Much work remains to be done with this paper suggesting some concrete steps such as hosting a Gender COP, ensuring financing for National Climate Change Gender Focal Points and embedding gender meaningfully within existing climate finance processes. In recommending future actions, the paper draws on insights from the Pacific and Australian experience.

AbstractIn recognition of the intrinsic links between climate change and human rights, many have argued that human rights should play a leading role in guiding state responses to climate change. A group whose human rights will inevitably be affected by climate action (or inaction) today are the members of future generations. Yet, despite their particular vulnerability, future generations so far have gone largely unnoticed in human rights analyses. An adequate response to climate change requires that we recognize and address the human rights consequences for future generations, and consider the legal, practical and theoretical questions involved. This article attempts to answer these questions with a particular focus on the Paris Agreement. It argues that the recognition of state obligations towards future generations is compatible with human rights theory, and that these obligations must be balanced against the duties owed to current generations. The article concludes with a number of suggestions for how this balance could be pursued.

It is now well understood that climate change represents a threat to the enjoyment of a wide range of human rights. Given that women are vulnerable to the effects of climate change due to a range of social, economic, cultural and political factors that influence their position in society, their human rights may be especially at risk. Despite the growing recognition of climate change as a human rights issue, the recently adopted Paris Agreement contains scant references to human rights, little engagement with the rights of women in particular, and no coverage of women’s substantive rights in the operative sections of the Agreement. This article argues that more work is required to ensure that women’s rights are adequately protected against the harms caused by anthropogenic climate change. Despite recent increases in women’s participation in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, stronger and more targeted action is still required to give effect to the general recognition of women’s rights. The article posits that a gender perspective on climate change can work to reinforce human-rights-based approaches by ensuring that women are afforded greater opportunities to participate in climate change negotiations. The article also argues for the implementation of policies that acknowledge and draw on women’s experiences and are designed to advance their enjoyment of human rights.

The severe impacts of climate change on human rights are increasingly evident as climate-related harms such as tropical storms, forest fires, and desertification intensify. As understanding of the causes and effects of climate change has improved, so too has recognition of the injustices inherent in anthropogenic global warming. Climate injustices are compounded by the fact that those individuals and groups most vulnerable to climatic harm are most likely to have fewest financial resources and lowest adaptive capacities, and are least responsible for the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that have caused the problem. Campaigners and litigants are increasingly looking to human rights principles and law to protect victims – both current and future – against the negative impacts of climate change and to promote climate justice.1 Anthropogenic climate change threatens all human rights to a greater or lesser extent. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warns that its impacts will be ‘severe, pervasive and irreversible’.2 The right to life is threatened by systemic risks arising from extreme weather events that undermine infrastructure and critical services such as electricity, water supply, and health services. The right to health will be undermined by increased risks from food-, water- and vector-borne diseases. Injuries, diseases and deaths will increase as a result of more intense storms, heatwaves and forest fires, and malnutrition from diminished food production is likely to increase in poor regions.

 Climate change is accelerating gender inequality, as climate extremes amplify inequalities, vulnerabilities, negative gender norms, with Gender-Based Violence (GBV) rates increase during times of disaster. Yet the gendered experiences of climate change have to date been inadequately factored into climate law and policy-making, with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) traditionally limiting its focus to ‘gender balance’ in representation within the regime. This article explores mainstreaming gender considerations within the UNFCCC by reflecting upon where we have come from, where we are now, and where we are going with respect with gender. While there was very little progress in the early days of the UNFCCC, this article shows that from 2001 to the present there have been a series of small gains, which this article will explain and critique. Much remains to be done, however, for gender within the UNFCCC. In recommending future actions, it draws particularly on lessons from the Pacific and Australian experiences.

In December 2015, nations of the world joined together in Paris to negotiate a new legal instrument to address climate change. The debates which took place in the lead up to the adoption of the Paris Agreement reflected broader, ongoing tensions between developed and developing states within the international climate regime. They also demonstrated the divergence of opinion between states as to the relationship between climate change and human rights. While the human impacts of climate change are now well-understood, there is still debate as to what a human rights-based approach to climate change should look like. This chapter argues that these geopolitical dynamics and differing priorities will continue to shape the implementation of the Paris Agreement, as well as the specific debates over intellectual property, finance, technology transfer and innovation. The chapter therefore provides an important contextual backdrop for further analysis of these issues.