This document discusses the links between climate change and human rights. It summarizes the outcomes of the Durban climate conference, noting agreements to draft a new emissions pact by 2015 to take effect in 2020. It outlines several human rights like life, food, and water that are threatened by the impacts of climate change, especially in developing nations. The document argues that human rights law needs to address climate change in order to protect vulnerable populations, and that framing climate change as a human rights issue could help drive political and legal action to address it.
It is mainly the inhabitants of the global South who suffer from the effects of climate change. They are faced with the destruction of their living space and the violation of their human rights. At the same time, existing human rights standards offer the possibility of establishing points of reference during international climate negotiations to address such questions as adjustment programs designed to confront the effects of climate change, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, technology transfers, and the future of development. As a frame of reference, human rights standards can serve to accurately evaluate policies and to pinpoint their failures, particularly regarding how these policies affect the world’s weakest inhabitants. This publication by the political scientist Theodor Rathgeber uses case examples to illustrate the dangers faced by indigenous peoples in particular, as well as the tools the UN human rights system gives them to support their struggle for just climate policies.
Historical Background of Environmental Laws and Development Policies: Interna...Preeti Sikder
Learning Outcome: Students will
a) become familiar with the global timeline of growth, setbacks and goals in the sector of international environmental law and sustainable development.
b) learn about the interconnections between environmental law and development policies.
Introduction to Sustainable DevelopmentPreeti Sikder
Learning Outcome:
Students will be able to :
a) discuss about the characteristics of sustainable development
b) grasp the scope of discussion under sustainable development as a branch of law
Background of Environmental Laws: International ContextPreeti Sikder
Learning Objectives: After completing this lesson, students will be able to:
a) trace the development of laws in the environmental arena
b) identify the needs and goals which led to today's environmental legal regime
c) critically assess the current requirements the latest legal documents must bear in order to meet the generational needs
It is mainly the inhabitants of the global South who suffer from the effects of climate change. They are faced with the destruction of their living space and the violation of their human rights. At the same time, existing human rights standards offer the possibility of establishing points of reference during international climate negotiations to address such questions as adjustment programs designed to confront the effects of climate change, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, technology transfers, and the future of development. As a frame of reference, human rights standards can serve to accurately evaluate policies and to pinpoint their failures, particularly regarding how these policies affect the world’s weakest inhabitants. This publication by the political scientist Theodor Rathgeber uses case examples to illustrate the dangers faced by indigenous peoples in particular, as well as the tools the UN human rights system gives them to support their struggle for just climate policies.
Historical Background of Environmental Laws and Development Policies: Interna...Preeti Sikder
Learning Outcome: Students will
a) become familiar with the global timeline of growth, setbacks and goals in the sector of international environmental law and sustainable development.
b) learn about the interconnections between environmental law and development policies.
Introduction to Sustainable DevelopmentPreeti Sikder
Learning Outcome:
Students will be able to :
a) discuss about the characteristics of sustainable development
b) grasp the scope of discussion under sustainable development as a branch of law
Background of Environmental Laws: International ContextPreeti Sikder
Learning Objectives: After completing this lesson, students will be able to:
a) trace the development of laws in the environmental arena
b) identify the needs and goals which led to today's environmental legal regime
c) critically assess the current requirements the latest legal documents must bear in order to meet the generational needs
Sustainable development brundtland report, ppp, equityMegha Majoe
A Brief idea on "Our Common Future" - Brundtland report - Sustainable development and different Principles adopted in the conference. i.e Precautionary Principle, polluter pays principle, Inter and intragenerational equity, Public Trust Doctrine etc.
This is a presentation on one of the topic of environmental law. It deals with Rio Declaration which is a very important summit in the history of environmental law.
United Nations Conference on the Human Environment is also known as Stockholm Conference and marked as a turning point in the development of international environmental politics.
It was the UN’s first major conference on international environmental issues.
The meeting agreed upon a Declaration
Containing 26 Principles
An Action plan containing 109 Recommendations
A Resolution on institutional and financial arrangements
This was the first step toward “ Sustainability Revolution
Global warming / Climate change / Political deceit and mass mental manipulationRobert Powell
History of Global Warming and the Oregon Global Warming Commission Scandal. Global Warming Commission has slowed business, placed artificial, unattainable goals in place while ignoring the people of the state in many other ways. This is Corporatism in play. Flow of leftist gutting of traditional education for Sustainable education.
Sustainability Criteria and Indicators.
Need for Sustainable Livelihoods for India.
Livelihood Assets.
Case of a Landless Female Agriculture Labour.
The Sustainable Livelihoods Framework.
Sustainability in Business
“Sustainability should be a touchstone for all innovation …In the future, only companies that make sustainability a goal will achieve competitive advantage. That means rethinking business models as well as products, technologies, and processes.”
Businesses employing Sustainable Management and Strategy .
Sustainability issues and impacts in Business.
In Search of Shelter: Mapping the effects of climate change on human migration and displacement.
Presentation at the UNFCCC Bonn Climate Change Talks, June 2009.
Sustainable development brundtland report, ppp, equityMegha Majoe
A Brief idea on "Our Common Future" - Brundtland report - Sustainable development and different Principles adopted in the conference. i.e Precautionary Principle, polluter pays principle, Inter and intragenerational equity, Public Trust Doctrine etc.
This is a presentation on one of the topic of environmental law. It deals with Rio Declaration which is a very important summit in the history of environmental law.
United Nations Conference on the Human Environment is also known as Stockholm Conference and marked as a turning point in the development of international environmental politics.
It was the UN’s first major conference on international environmental issues.
The meeting agreed upon a Declaration
Containing 26 Principles
An Action plan containing 109 Recommendations
A Resolution on institutional and financial arrangements
This was the first step toward “ Sustainability Revolution
Global warming / Climate change / Political deceit and mass mental manipulationRobert Powell
History of Global Warming and the Oregon Global Warming Commission Scandal. Global Warming Commission has slowed business, placed artificial, unattainable goals in place while ignoring the people of the state in many other ways. This is Corporatism in play. Flow of leftist gutting of traditional education for Sustainable education.
Sustainability Criteria and Indicators.
Need for Sustainable Livelihoods for India.
Livelihood Assets.
Case of a Landless Female Agriculture Labour.
The Sustainable Livelihoods Framework.
Sustainability in Business
“Sustainability should be a touchstone for all innovation …In the future, only companies that make sustainability a goal will achieve competitive advantage. That means rethinking business models as well as products, technologies, and processes.”
Businesses employing Sustainable Management and Strategy .
Sustainability issues and impacts in Business.
In Search of Shelter: Mapping the effects of climate change on human migration and displacement.
Presentation at the UNFCCC Bonn Climate Change Talks, June 2009.
Canadian environmental lawyer and author of Unnatural Law: Rethinking Canadian Environmental Law and Policy gave the keynote address at the Commission for Environmental Cooperation/Mexico's National Human Rights Commission seminar on Human Rights and Access to Environmental Justice seminar in Mexico City on September 26.
Presentation by WRI President and CEO Andrew Steer WRI/Resources and Rights Initiative (RRI) release of the report "Securing Rights, Combating Climate Change: How Strengthening Community Forest Rights Mitigates Climate Change" at NPR in Washington, DC on July 24, 2014.
Indigenous knowledge in climate change adaptation: recognition of the rights ...IIED
This presentation was made by Dr Cath Traynor and Reino Le Fleur of Natural Justice at the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) in Paris on 7 December, 2015.
It was made in a side event on 'Supporting poor, vulnerable and indigenous communities'.
WWF - Getting Aotearoa on Track for <1.5ºCDavid Tong
This is the presentation I gave at the One Summit in Wanaka and Queenstown. It covers the climate emergency, the concepts of environmental justice and climate justice, and three reasons for hope: the Paris Agreement, Science Based Targets, and the Zero Carbon Act.
Humans and the environmentLECTURE 1Environment and P.docxsheronlewthwaite
Humans and the
environment
LECTURE 1
Environment and Policy
Dr Aideen Foley [email protected]
Objective
Explore environmental policy with
an emphasis on the actors and
values that shape it.
Key content
Environmental and social principles
relating to policy-making
Regulatory, market-based and non-
legislative policy tools.
Environmental policy challenges,
successes and failures
Module
overview
1. Humans and the environment
2. Environmental principles
3. Social principles in
environmental policy-making
4. Environmental governance and
participation
5. Fundamentals of sustainability
6. Environmental regulation
7. Environmental issues as market
problems
8. Environment and business
responsibility
9. Climate change policy
10. Climate change ethics
Module
overview
Assessment
2 x 3500 word learning journals.
1 question to consider each week.
Critical thinking is key.
1-5 due by 6pm, November 12th
6-10 due by 6pm, January 14th
Assignment clinics:
Lectures 5 and 10.
Humans and the Environment
How do people ‘value’ the environment?
How do people perceive environmental risk?
Key concepts
▪ Environmental worldviews
▪ Cultural Theory of risk
▪ Political economy of risk
Why does this matter?
If we consider misplaced values and
perceptions as one cause of
environmental problems, we need to
understand theoretical frameworks that
attempt to explain peoples’
relationships with the environment in
order to respond to that.
1. Environmental worldviews
Environmental values, like all psychological and social constructs,
are found ‘within’ human individuals, institutions and societies,
and find expression and representation across all human
activities, relationships, and cultural products.
Reser, J.P. and Bentrupperbäumer, J.M., 2005. What and where are environmental values? Assessing the
impacts of current diversity of use of ‘environmental’and ‘World Heritage’values. Journal of Environmental
Psychology, 25(2), pp.125-146.
Ecocentric
The person is not above or
outside of nature. E.g. Deep
ecology, eco-feminism.
Biocentric
Does not distinguish
between humans and other
life on Earth.
Environmental worldviews
Commonly shared beliefs that give groups of people a sense
of how humans should interact with the environment.
Anthropocentric
Humans should manage
Earth's resources for our
own benefit. E.g. Planetary
management, stewardship,
‘no-problem’.
“…sowing and planting of trees had to
be regarded as a national duty of
every landowner, in order to stop the
destructive over-exploitation of
natural resources…”
John Evelyn (1662), English writer, gardener and diarist
Planetary management
“It is a well-provisioned ship, this on which we
sail through space. If the bread and beef above
decks seem to grow scarce, we but open a
hatch and there is a new supply, of which
before we never dreamed. And very great
command over the services of other ...
These are the slides to the MGCY Capacity Building team's first webinar: SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 101. They introduce "what is sustainable development" in a simple and friendly way which you can replicate!
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1. image.png
Climate Change and Human Rights
Maastricht University, 8 February 2012
Jan van de Venis
Chair, Stand Up For Your Rights (.org en info@)
Attorney-at-law, JustLaw - Corporate Law and Human Rights
Jan@JustLaw.nl
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Outcome of Durban: "Climate Apartheid"?
Biggest polluters to reach agreement by 2015, setting stage
for renewed discord between rich and poor countries.
Drafting a “protocol, legal instrument or an agreed outcome
with legal force” to take effect by 2020.
Durban Outcomes
2012: Negotiators meet in Qatar to start drafting new treaty.
2013: Remaining Kyoto Protocol countries start a second
commitment period.
2015: A new emissions pact should be finished.
2020: The new pact would take effect.
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Art. 1 UDHR
“All human beings are born free and equal
in dignity and rights.
They are endowed with
reason and conscience
and should act towards one another
in a spirit of brotherhood.”
4. image.png
Humans and Climate Change
Impacts:
• Extreme weather
• Salinisation, loss of land
• Less water from glacial melt
• Nature under much pressure→ 1.5 planets→ less flexible
• Water and Food resources
• Acidification oceans
• Diseases
• Especially Developing Nations
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Causes Climate Change
• Predominantly CO2 from burning fossil fuels.
• Also other GHGs such as methane (stockbreeding).
• Also CO2 and GHGs from other human activities / cause:
burning forests, permafrost and peat land (oil palm land, bio
fuels, etc.).
• ‘tipping point’ 2 degrees?
6. image.png
Fossil Fuels
Fossil fuels do more:
• Accelerating melting due to particulate matter in air and on
snow/glaciers.
• Damaging health and silent killer à WHO
12,000 casualties in NL per year v. 800 in traffic.
• Additional environmental damage (winning, refining,
transport, leakage, etc).
• Still global subsidies $ 300 to 500 billion per year. EU
example of 23 Nov 2010: Inefficient Coal subsidies
7. image.png
Human Rights approach
• Our most fundamental values and needs.
Examples: Life, food, property, work, education, etc.
• 1945 UN Charter
• 1948 Universal Declaration on Human Rights
• 1966 Int. Conv. Civil and Political Rights and
Int. Conv. Economic Cultural and Social Rights
• Regional treaties and constitutions
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Linking human rights and environment?
• Since ’70s growth linking of environment, land, air, water
• Sustainable development (Rio and J’burg) --> Rio+20
• Millennium Development Goals
• Development ‘Right to Environment’
• Recently Human Rights Council and COP 15 16 and 17
• Climate Liability cases
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Human Rights and Climate Change
• UN Human Rights Council 2008 OHCHR research with 2009
Conclusions on “Human Rights and Climate Change”
• Issue of 'causal link'
• Call by High Commissioner on countries in Copenhagen and beyond
• More and more people, NGOs, Int. Orgs, lawyers and law students
see and invoke the links
E.g. NGO iniative to call for Special Procedure HR Council. E.g.
Current OHCHR research Human Rights & Environment.
E.g Mary Robinson (past UNHCHR, Pres. Ierland, ICJ, Oxfam, The
Elders and now MRFCJ):
“Because Climate Change presents a new and unprecedented threat to the human
rights of millions, international human rights law and institutions must evolve to
protect the rights of these people and states must urgently act to avoid even more
serious and actionable violations of human rights.”
10. image.png
Human Rights and Environment
• Equity / equality
• Right to Life
• Right to Food
• Right to Water
• Right to Health
• Right to Housing, Self-determination, Development, Work
• Right to Family life, Cultural rights
11. image.png
Human Rights and Climate Change
• Women
• Children (‘future generations’)
• Indigenous People
• Refugees and Security Issues
• Rights and Business.
”Governments have a ‘duty to protect’, but companies have a
‘responsibility to respect’ human rights. Includes due
diligence and chain management.” Remedies. From CSR to
Liability.
12. image.png
Remedies are difficult
• Exhausting Local Remedies a long and expensive road
• Difficult in cross boundary environmental issues
• Still human rights bind State towards its people
13. image.png
But often effective
• Direct application certain rights.
Jurisprudence European Court of Human Rights.
• Moral and political pressure and human rights has
changed a lot in the past.
• Focus on victim
(contrary to current environmental law).
• Access to justice. International procedures,
Empowering.
• Consciousness: we are part of nature; earth belongs
to all and future generations; together we may enjoy
and together we are responsible. It’s part of our most
14. image.png
Human rights can contribute to a
sustainable future on planet Earth.
“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity
and rights.
They are endowed with reason and conscience and
should act towards one another in a spirit of
brotherhood.”