The atmosphere is the essential physical and chemical environment for life, and changes to the physical and chemical properties of the atmosphere have the potential of affecting directly the quality of life and even the very existence of some forms of life. These changes and effects bring to the fore the very concept of climate change.
The United Nations defines Climate change as the long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. These shifts may be natural, such as through variations in the solar cycle, but since the 1800s, human activities have been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas, as well as the greenhouse gas emissions which has resulted in diverse effects ranging from sea level rise, coastal erosion, food shortage, devastating storm, extinction, increased health issues, poverty and forced migration.
Climate change, an inherently social issue, can upset everyone’s daily life, but not all climate impacts are created equal nor distributed equally. This differential impact which has greatly influenced human rights, gave room for the emergence of the movement on climate justice. Climate justice is therefore a concept that addresses the just division, fair sharing, and equitable distribution of the benefits and burdens of climate change, and the responsibilities to deal with same. It requires that climate action be consistent with existing human rights agreements, obligations, standards and principles. Those who have contributed the least to climate change have been made to unjustly and disproportionately suffer its harms and so they must be made meaningful participants and primary beneficiaries of climate action, and must also have access to effective remedies.
Climate Justice
Some of the rights in which climate change poses serious threats to, includes right to life, right to self determination, right to development, right to food, right to water and sanitation, right to health, right to housing, right to education, right to meaningful and informed participation. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), which is the leading United Nations entity on human rights, highlights the essential obligations and responsibilities of States and other duty-bearers for climate change-related agreements, policies, and actions in order to foster policy coherence and help ensure that climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts are adequate, sufficiently ambitious, non-discriminatory and otherwise compliant with human rights obligations. These highlights includes;
● To mitigate climate change and to prevent its negative human rights impacts, States have an obligation to respect, protect, fulfil and promote all human rights for all persons without discrimination. Failure to take affirmative measures to prevent human rights harms caused by climate change, including foreseeable long-term harms, breaches this obligation.
● To ensure that all persons have the necessary capacity to adapt to climate change, States must ensure that appropriate adaptation measures are taken to protect and fulfil the rights of all persons, particularly those most endangered by the negative impacts of climate change such as those living in vulnerable areas.
● To ensure accountability and effective remedy for human rights harms caused by climate change, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and other human rights instruments require States to guarantee effective remedies for human rights violations. Those affected, now and in the future, must have access to meaningful remedies including judicial and other redress mechanisms.
● The UN Charter imposes upon States the duty to cooperate to ensure the realization of all human rights. Climate change is a human rights threat with causes and consequences that cross borders; thus, it requires a global response, underpinned by international solidarity. States should share resources, knowledge and technology in order to address climate change issues.
● The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change calls for States to protect future generations and to take action on climate change on the basis of equity and in accordance with their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities. While climate change affects people everywhere, those who have contributed the least to greenhouse gas emissions (i.e. the poor, children, and future generations) are those most affected. Equity in climate action requires that efforts to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change should benefit people in developing countries, indigenous peoples, people in vulnerable situations, and future generations.
It is now beyond dispute that climate change caused by human activity has negative impacts on the full enjoyment of human rights. The fight against climate change effects is a global one, and not every region, country, society, and continent would experience the same level of damage even though everyone is responsible for these changes. It is therefore the collective responsibility of every individual to see to the total elimination of the impacts of climate change all over the world.