Human Rights Under the Paris Agreement

Licencinė sutartis Nr. MRU-EDT-261

Almost two decades ago already, the UN Human Rights Council recognized that “climate change-related impacts have a range of implications, both direct and indirect, for the effective enjoyment of human rights”. These words were a monumental achievement both for climate change policy and human rights policy and ushered in a new era. The international movement for drawing the nexus between these two fields finally bore some fruits as climate policy makers reconsidered the utility and value of rights-based approach. What began as a concern of a lose organization of consisting of vulnerable states, civil societies, human rights bodies and some individuals, grew into an organized movement advocating for the inclusion of human rights into the climate framework. The recognition of climate change’s devastating effect on human rights and vital human ecosystems coupled with a frightening scientific prognosis of future climate change evolution caused the political focus to shift away from viewing the problem from politico-scientific approach and towards the plight of peoples and their rights.