Issue Research

1. How does climate change affect human rights?

a. “When the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was created in 1948, it was
done so to hold firm to the highest of ideals, a set of entitlements that allow all
people to live with dignity, freedom, equality, justice, and peace.”
(​https://www.greenpeace.org​)
b. “So many of our human rights, such as right to life, health, food, and an adequate
standard of living, are adversely affected by climate change. We see the
evidence of this, for instance, with each new extreme weather event and the
devastation that ensues such as death and the destruction of crops and
property.” ​(​https://www.greenpeace.org​)
2. Which rights does it affect the most?
a. “Climate change is and will continue to harm all of us unless governments take
action. However, its effects are likely to be much more pronounced for certain
groups – for example, those communities dependent on agricultural or coastal
livelihoods – as well as those who are generally already vulnerable,
disadvantaged and subject to discrimination.”
(​https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/climate-change/​)
3. What is Climate Justice?
a. Climate justice is the fulfillment of human rights in the face of climate change. It
is a process of addressing the climate crisis as a human rights crisis and using
the court of law to hold corporations and governments accountable.
b. Climate Justice tackles climate change and the violation of human rights one
case at a time.
c. “Climate justice responds to the moral argument -- both sides of the moral
argument -- to address climate change. First of all, to be on the side of those who
are suffering most and are most affected. And secondly, to make sure that
they're not left behind again when we start to move and start to address climate
change with climate action, as we are doing.”​(​https://www.ted.com​)
4. What kind of people does climate change affect the most?
a. “Climate change also poses a major threat to human life causing threats to
physical health and survival, food and water shortages, and loss of property,
home, and way of life; with the most vulnerable in our society – like children, the
elderly, and marginalized communities – often being the most at
risk.”​(​https://www.greenpeace.org​)
b. “But, in recent years, at the time of this conversation, they had nothing but long
periods of drought, and then flash flooding, and then more drought. The school
had been destroyed, livelihoods had been destroyed, their harvest had been
destroyed. She forms this women's group to try to keep her community together.
And this was a reality that really struck me because of course, Constance Okollet
 wasn't responsible for the greenhouse gas emissions that were causing this
problem.” (​https://www.ted.com​)
c. “There was unprecedented flooding in the country, it covered about a third of the
country, over 300 people were killed, and hundreds of thousands lost their
livelihoods. And the average person in Malawi emits about 80 kg of CO2 a year.
The average US citizen emits about 17.5 metric tons. So those who are suffering
disproportionately don't drive cars, don't have electricity, don't consume very
significantly, and yet they are feeling more and more the impacts of the changes
in the climate, the changes that are preventing them from knowing how to grow
food properly, and knowing how to look after their future. I think it was really the
importance of the injustice that really struck me very forcibly.”
(​https://www.ted.com​)
d. “At a national level, those in low-lying, small island states and less developed
countries will be and already are among those worst affected.”
e. “The effects of climate change and fossil fuel-related pollution also run along
ethnicity and class lines. In North America, it is largely poorer communities of
color who are forced to breathe toxic air because their neighborhoods are more
likely to be situated next to power plants and refineries. They experience
markedly higher rates of respiratory illnesses and cancers, and African
Americans are three times more likely to die of airborne pollution than the overall
US population.”
f. “Women and girls are disproportionately affected by climate change, reflecting
the fact that they are more likely in many countries to be marginalized and
disadvantaged. This means that they are more vulnerable to the impacts of
climate-related events as they are less able to protect themselves against it and
will find it harder to recover.”
g. “Future generations will experience the worsening effects unless action is taken
now by governments. However, children and young people are already suffering
due to their specific metabolism, physiology and developmental needs.”
h. “Indigenous peoples are among the communities most impacted by climate
change. They often live in marginal lands and fragile ecosystems that are
particularly sensitive to alterations in the physical environment.”
i. D-H (​https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/climate-change/​)
5. How does climate change affect the right to life?
a. Climate change will equally affect the right to life through an increase in hunger
and malnutrition and related disorder impacting child growth and development,
respiratory morbidity and ground-level ozone.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Rights_and_Climate_Change#Specific_issues
https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/HRAndClimateChange/Pages/HRClimateChangeIndex.aspx
https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/climate-change/