Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 October 2017
In recognition of the intrinsic links between climate change and human rights, many have argued that human rights should play a leading role in guiding state responses to climate change. A group whose human rights will inevitably be affected by climate action (or inaction) today are the members of future generations. Yet, despite their particular vulnerability, future generations so far have gone largely unnoticed in human rights analyses. An adequate response to climate change requires that we recognize and address the human rights consequences for future generations, and consider the legal, practical and theoretical questions involved. This article attempts to answer these questions with a particular focus on the Paris Agreement. It argues that the recognition of state obligations towards future generations is compatible with human rights theory, and that these obligations must be balanced against the duties owed to current generations. The article concludes with a number of suggestions for how this balance could be pursued.
This contribution is part of a collection of articles growing out of the conference ‘A Rights-Based Approach to Climate Change’, held at QUT Law School, Brisbane (Australia), on 18–19 Feb. 2016.
The author is grateful for the very helpful comments of anonymous TEL reviewers, as well as the feedback of Fiona McDonald, Helen Berents, Carmel O’Sullivan, and Cassandra Cross.
1 Much has been written on the relationship between human rights and climate change. See, e.g., Atapattu, S., Human Rights Approaches to Climate Change: Challenges and Opportunities (Routledge, 2016)Google Scholar; Bodansky, D., ‘Climate Change and Human Rights: Unpacking the Issues’ (2010) 38(3) Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law, pp. 511–525 Google Scholar; Humphreys, S. (ed.), Human Rights and Climate Change (Cambridge University Press, 2010)Google Scholar; Lawrence, P., Justice for Future Generations: Climate Change and International Law (Edward Elgar, 2015)Google Scholar; McInerney-Lankford, S., Darrow, M. & Rajamani, L., Human Rights and Climate Change: A Review of the International Legal Dimensions (World Bank, 2011)Google Scholar; Limon, M., ‘Human Rights and Climate Change: Constructing a Case for Political Action’ (2009) 33(2) Harvard Environmental Law Review, pp. 439–476 Google Scholar; Knox, J., ‘Linking Human Rights and Climate Change at the United Nations’ (2009) 33(2) Harvard Environmental Law Review, pp. 477–498 Google Scholar; Malé Declaration on the Human Dimension of Global Climate Change, 14 Nov. 2007, available at: http://www.ciel.org/Publications/Male_Declaration_Nov07.pdf; Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the Relationship between Climate Change and Human Rights, UN Doc. A/HRC/10/61, 15 Jan. 2009 (OHCHR Report).
2 Pedersen, O.W., ‘The Janus-Head of Human Rights and Climate Change: Adaptation and Mitigation’ (2011) 80(4) Nordic Journal of International Law, pp. 403–423 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Lewis, B., ‘Balancing Human Rights in Climate Change Policies’, in O. Quirico & M. Boumghar (eds), Climate Change and Human Rights: International and Comparative Law Perspectives (Routledge, 2016 ), pp. 39–52 Google Scholar.
3 Knox, n. 1 above; Limon, n. 1 above, pp. 450–9; Bodansky, n. 1 above, p. 524.
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8 New York, NY (US), 9 May 1992, in force 21 Mar. 1994, available at: http://unfccc.int/essential_background/convention/items/6036.php.
9 Paris Agreement, n. 7 above, Preamble, para. 11.
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11 Kyoto (Japan), 11 Dec. 1997, in force 16 Feb. 2005, available at: http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/items/2830.php.
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15 Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action, Streamlined and Consolidated Text, Bonn (Germany), 11 Jun. 2015, available at: http://unfccc.int/files/bodies/awg/application/pdf/adp2-9_i3_11jun2015t1630_np.pdf.
16 Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action, Draft Agreement and Draft Decision on Workstreams 1 and 2 of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action, Bonn (Germany), 23 Oct. 2015, available at: https://unfccc.int/files/bodies/application/pdf/[email protected] (Bonn Draft Agreement).
17 Geneva Negotiating Text, n. 14 above, Section C, Art. 2.2.
18 UNFCCC, n. 8 above, Art. 3.1.
19 Bonn Draft Agreement, n. 16 above.
20 Paris Agreement, n. 7 above, Preamble, para. 11.
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23 Geneva Negotiating Text, n. 14 above, Art. 12 bis.
24 Bonn Draft Agreement, n. 16 above, Art. 2.2. The passages in square brackets were presented as alternative wording for state parties to consider.
25 Art. 15 Paris Agreement establishes an expert committee to facilitate implementation of and promote compliance. The committee is to operate in a transparent, non-adversarial and non-punitive manner.
26 Human Rights Watch, ‘Human Rights in Climate Pact Under Fire: Norway, Saudis, US Blocking Strong Position’, 7 Dec. 2015, available at: https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/12/07/human-rights-climate-pact-under-fire; Deconstructing Paris, n. 22 above; Deconstructing Paris, ‘Days 4–5 Negotiations Heating Up’, 5 Dec. 2015, available at: http://paristext2015.com/2015/12/days-4-5-negotiations-heating-up; M. Rowling, ‘Climate Talks Take a Wrong Turn on Human Rights, Campaigners Say’, Thomson Reuters Foundation News, 4 Dec. 2015, available at: http://news.trust.org//item/20151203224453-oyg5w.
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31 Paris Agreement, n. 7 above, Preamble, para. 10.
32 Atapattu, n. 1 above, p. 46.
33 Savaresi, n. 12 above, p. 25.
34 Paris Agreement, n. 7 above, Preamble, paras 8, 16; Arts 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10.
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36 E.g., the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development refers specifically to human rights among its guiding principles: UN General Assembly Resolution on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, UN Doc. A/RES/70/1, 21 Oct. 2015, especially paras. 10 and 19, available at: http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/70/1&Lang=E.
37 Paris Agreement, n. 7, Art. 2.
38 Ibid., Art. 4.
39 Ibid., Preamble, para. 8.
40 Ibid., Preamble, para. 9.
41 Ibid., Preamble, para. 13.
42 Ibid., Art. 10.
43 Ibid., Art. 7.
44 Rome Declaration on World Food Security, Rome (Italy), 13–17 Nov. 1996, available at: http://www.fao.org/docrep/003/w3613e/w3613e00.HTM; Johnson, H. & Walters, R., ‘Food Security’, in M. Gill (ed.), The Handbook of Security (Springer, 2014), pp. 404–427 CrossRefGoogle Scholar, at 405.
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52 ICCPR, n. 6 above, Art. 2.
53 Bodansky, n. 1 above, p. 522; Knox, n. 1 above, p. 487.
54 N. 6 above.
55 Human Rights Committee, General Comment 31: Nature of the General Legal Obligation on States Parties to the Covenant, UN Doc. CPR/C/21/Rev.1/add13, 20 Mar. 2004, para. 10; McCorquodale, R. & Simons, P., ‘Responsibility Beyond Borders: State Responsibility for Extraterritorial Violations by Corporations of International Human Rights’ (2007) 70(4) The Modern Law Review, pp. 598–625 CrossRefGoogle Scholar, at 602; Knox, J., ‘Climate Change and Human Rights Law’ (2009–10) 50(1) Virginia Journal of International Law, pp. 163–218 Google Scholar, at 202.
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62 Ibid., p. 640. Knox has argued that states have at least a duty to respect the rights of people in other states: Knox, n. 55 above, p. 201.
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69 Ibid.
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99 Report of Secretary-General, n. 93 above, p. 18.
100 Ibid.; Report of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), 20–22 June 2012, UN Doc. A/CONF.216/16.
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102 Paris Agreement, n. 7 above, Arts 13, 14.
103 ‘Our Common Future’, n. 35 above, para. 25.
104 See, e.g., the Young and Future Generations Participation Day at COP-21, 3 Dec. 2015, available at: http://unfccc.int/cooperation_support/education_outreach/overview/items/9191.php.