Post by Admin on Nov 29, 2014 20:11:12 GMT -5
Human Rights Working Group
Introduction
All human beings have certain fundamental rights. These include the right to life, the right to food, water and sanitation, the rights of indigenous peoples, gender and equality rights and the right to peace and security. In addition, everyone has the overarching human right to a safe and healthy climate. Climate change has a detrimental effect on these rights.
Some particular groups of people are more affected by climate change than others. These include women, those living in poverty, indigenous peoples, people living in developing countries, and children and youth. Social inequalities cause these people to be affected by climate impacts on a greater scale. For example, indigenous peoples in the Amazon are subject to deforestation and those in the Pacific undergo rising sea levels and forced immigration. There should be equal rights, independent of geographic location and economic capacity, recognising that people in developing nations contribute comparatively little to the causes of climate change yet are most vulnerable to its impacts.
This document will explain how climate change impacts on these fundamental rights and then turn to solutions to these issues.
Climate effects on human rights
Climate change can lead to crop reductions due to rise of temperature and drought. Soil along coastlines is salinized by rising sea levels, so that crops are adversely affected.
Climate change can affect the right to shelter and housing in the following ways:
• Flooding
• Extreme weather events
• Rising sea levels
• Faster and forced urbanisation
• Desertification
Water and sanitation is affected in the following ways:
• Melting of glacial ice
• Sea level rise and salinization
• Droughts
• Variability of rainfall
• Flooding, which can compromise sanitation
• Privatisation of critical water supply
The sovereignty of each country must be respected.
Climate change can affect geopolitical security, due to such climate impacts as desertification, and threats to resource security.
Solutions
In order to neutralise the detrimental effects of climate change on human rights, we urge the UNFCCC to adopt the following recommendations:
• Human rights must be included and acknowledged in the COP outcome text.
• We request loss and damage for countries affected by climate change impacts such as flooding, salinization and desertification
• We endorse technology transfer from industrialised nations to developing countries for reasons of adaptation.
• We urge developed countries to contribute to the Green Climate Fund (GCF).
• Mitigation is of the utmost importance to human rights. Pre-2020 ambition is necessary from all parties to avoid the emissions gap, and the 2015 agreement must be fair, ambitious and binding.
Introduction
All human beings have certain fundamental rights. These include the right to life, the right to food, water and sanitation, the rights of indigenous peoples, gender and equality rights and the right to peace and security. In addition, everyone has the overarching human right to a safe and healthy climate. Climate change has a detrimental effect on these rights.
Some particular groups of people are more affected by climate change than others. These include women, those living in poverty, indigenous peoples, people living in developing countries, and children and youth. Social inequalities cause these people to be affected by climate impacts on a greater scale. For example, indigenous peoples in the Amazon are subject to deforestation and those in the Pacific undergo rising sea levels and forced immigration. There should be equal rights, independent of geographic location and economic capacity, recognising that people in developing nations contribute comparatively little to the causes of climate change yet are most vulnerable to its impacts.
This document will explain how climate change impacts on these fundamental rights and then turn to solutions to these issues.
Climate effects on human rights
Climate change can lead to crop reductions due to rise of temperature and drought. Soil along coastlines is salinized by rising sea levels, so that crops are adversely affected.
Climate change can affect the right to shelter and housing in the following ways:
• Flooding
• Extreme weather events
• Rising sea levels
• Faster and forced urbanisation
• Desertification
Water and sanitation is affected in the following ways:
• Melting of glacial ice
• Sea level rise and salinization
• Droughts
• Variability of rainfall
• Flooding, which can compromise sanitation
• Privatisation of critical water supply
The sovereignty of each country must be respected.
Climate change can affect geopolitical security, due to such climate impacts as desertification, and threats to resource security.
Solutions
In order to neutralise the detrimental effects of climate change on human rights, we urge the UNFCCC to adopt the following recommendations:
• Human rights must be included and acknowledged in the COP outcome text.
• We request loss and damage for countries affected by climate change impacts such as flooding, salinization and desertification
• We endorse technology transfer from industrialised nations to developing countries for reasons of adaptation.
• We urge developed countries to contribute to the Green Climate Fund (GCF).
• Mitigation is of the utmost importance to human rights. Pre-2020 ambition is necessary from all parties to avoid the emissions gap, and the 2015 agreement must be fair, ambitious and binding.