scholarly journals Climate Change, Sustainable Development, and Human Rights

Author(s):  
Alan Boyle
2021 ◽  
pp. 293-310
Author(s):  
Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger

Chapter 21 focuses on how trade and investment agreements may contribute to international efforts to achieve SDGs 12 to 17, which address responsible consumption and production patterns (SDG 12), combatting climate change (SDG 13), conservation and sustainable use of marine resources (SDG 14), and sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems (SDG 15). SDG 16, which calls for peace, justice and strong institutions for sustainable development, is also canvassed in its links to securing stability, effective governance and human rights. Finally, SDG 17, which calls on all countries to build partnerships towards achieving sustainable development, is discussed as the foundation of all the SDGs in the concluding note to this chapter, particularly given its explicit provisions on economic cooperation, trade, investment and finance.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camilla Bredberg ◽  
Anna Bergqvist

<p>Climate change is one of the most important global issues affecting the entire population on the earth, particularly young people. Since climate change is already threating us all, it is of utmost importance to raise this issue in a wide range of community policies, including school programs. In line with this reasoning, teacher at our school have together started a collaborative project in different subject as Natural Science, Swedish, Economics, Human Rights and Social Science focused on United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The primary objective with this collaborative project is to work with United Nations sustainaable Development Goals since it is applicable to the school subjects in many different aspects, including Economic, Social science and Science. An important objective of this project is to provide students with educational and practical training in how to make scientific inquiries and write a scientific report. During this school year, participating students will attend lectures and exhibitions concerning United Nations’ Sustanable Development Goals. In April 2020 the students will present their reports in a conference at the department of Geological Sciences at Stockholm University.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-36
Author(s):  
Giuseppe Nesi

Witnessing the sometimes confusing and often nebulous debate on the position of cities in international law, one could wonder what cities are and what they do in contemporary international law. One could also wonder whether allowing cities to actively participate in the formation and implementation of international norms, and to contribute to international multilateral negotiations on issues of global concern such as sustainable development, climate change or human rights, does really imply a change in their status in international law. In this contribution, the reasons why cities are not subjects of international law, or better, why cities and local authorities still matter in international law because they are part of a State, are systematically assessed. Specific attention is paid to the status and role of transnational city networks. Before concluding, this article makes some final comments on the prospects for cities and transnational city networks in international law.


2021 ◽  
Vol 193 ◽  
pp. 443-477

443Human rights — Environmental rights — Deforestation of Colombian Amazon forest — Protection of human rights — Right to a healthy environment — Right to life — Right to health — Colombian action of protection (“acción de tutela”) of human rights — Whether appropriate mechanism for applicants to protect their rights — Climate change — Effects — International and national instruments for protection of environment — Whether Amazon an entity “subject of rights” — Whether defendants failing to protect applicants’ rights — Whether defendants violating Paris Agreement on Climate Change and Colombian Law 1753 of 2015Jurisdiction — Human rights protection — Collective rights — Appropriate mechanism to protect applicants’ rights — Acción de tutela — Whether appropriate for protection of collective rights and interests — Whether protection of environment entailing safeguarding of supra-legal individual guarantees — Whether minors can bring claim without representationTerritory — Whether territories “subject of rights” — Human rights — Environmental rights — Deforestation of Colombian Amazon forest — Ecocentric anthropic society — Whether Amazon an entity “subject of rights”Relationship of international law and municipal law — Treaties — Paris Agreement on Climate Change, 2015 — Other international instruments — International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1966 — Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques, 1976 — Protocol I additional to Geneva Conventions relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts, 1977 — 1972 Stockholm Declaration — United Nations Environment Programme — United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro, 1992 — United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development — Rio Declaration on Environment and Development — Principles for a Global Consensus on the Management, Conservation and Sustainable Development of All Types of Forests — Convention on Biological Diversity, 1992 — United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 1992 — Colombian Law 1844 of 2017 approving Paris Agreement — Colombian Law 1753 of 2015 — Constitution of Colombia — Whether Colombia violating its obligations under international and national law — Whether defendants failing to protect 444applicants’ rights — Whether defendants violating Paris Agreement on Climate Change and Law 1753 of 2015Human rights — Right to a healthy environment — Environmental rights — Action of protection (“acción de tutela”) in Colombia to protect human rights — Article 86 of Colombian Constitution — Popular action (“acción popular”) to protect human rights — Article 88 of Colombian Constitution — Right to life expectancy — Environmental protection — Right to enjoy a healthy environment, life and health — Relationship of environment and ecosystem with fundamental rights of life and health, and with human dignity — Fundamental rights to access water, breathe clean air and enjoy healthy environment — Right not to be sick due to environmental degradation — Right to fresh water — Right to environmental sanitationEnvironment — Territory — Whether territories “subject of rights” — Prevalence of general interest — Duty to protect natural wealth of nation — Ecological function of private property — Natural parks as inalienable, imprescriptible and unattachable — Sustainable development — Collective rights and interests — Colombian Constitutional Court Judgment C-431 of 2000 — Amazon Cooperation Treaty, 1978 — Precautionary principle — Principle of intergenerational equity — Principle of solidarity — The law of Colombia


Author(s):  
Paola Villavicencio Calzadilla

In the light of the new era of climate action under the Paris Agreement (PA) and the rights and justice issues raised by climate change-related policies and measures, this paper discusses the integration of a human rights component within the Sustainable Development Mechanism (SDM) of the PA. Established in article 6.4, the SDM is essentially a new mitigation mechanism available to all Parties aimed at helping them to achieve and increase their mitigation actions, while fostering sustainable development. Looking back at the experience of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol, which bears great resemblance to the SDM, as well as to the human rights concerns raised during its implementation, the integration of human rights considerations into the SDM and its governing rules seems to be necessary to prevent negative outcomes and human rights harms when implemented. The adoption of such rules, consistent with international human rights, could provide an opportunity for State Parties to operationalise the language included in the PA and tackle the climate change challenge, while ensuring respect for human rights.


2009 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 307-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donna Craig

Abstract The social and human rights implications of climate change, adaptation and mitigation have received relatively little attention. Yet the human costs of climate change directly threaten fundamental human rights. Equity issues also arise in the climate change context because of its disproportionate impact on already vulnerable people, Indigenous peoples and communities. This article commences with a review of human rights and sustainable development in the specific context of the rights of Indigenous Peoples. It does not undertake a comprehensive study of all aspects of Indigenous environmental governance in the Arctic. Rather, it seeks to explore the wider principles and international standards that are potentially applicable to the social and human rights dimensions of sustainable development in the Arctic in the context of the impacts of climate change.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-41
Author(s):  
Danwood CHIRWA ◽  
Nojeem AMODU

AbstractThe attention that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has given to public–private partnerships in solving global concerns including poverty, sustainable development and climate change has shed new light on the question of duties of corporations in relation to economic, social and cultural (ESC) rights. At the same time, objections to recognizing the obligations of corporations in relation to human rights in general and to ESC rights in particular have continued to be made. At the formal level, these objections are reflected in new distinctions such as between the duties of states and responsibilities of corporations, between primary duties of states and secondary duties of corporations, and between obligations of compliance and obligations of performance. All these objections and distinctions are untenable and serve only to stultify the discourse on business and human rights. The current state of human rights is dynamic, not static; commodious, not stale. There is ample space in it to accommodate duties of corporations regarding ESC rights.


Author(s):  
Philippe Cullet

This chapter investigates the interaction between individuals and states in the face of climate change. It looks into the points of intersection between climate change and human rights regimes by examining the extent to which the climate change regime has recognized and addressed the human rights dimensions of climate change. Indeed, climate change is but one of many global environmental issues and where the climate change regime is part of the corpus of international environmental law, it looks into the extent to which the debate on a right to environment can be used in the context of climate change. International environmental law includes instruments that embrace the human dimensions of environmental issues as reflected, for instance, in the definition of sustainable development adopted in the Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable Development at the Johannesburg World Conference on Environment and Development.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 131
Author(s):  
Viktor Ladychenko ◽  
Olha Melnychuk ◽  
Olena Yara Julia Kanaryk

Climate change and global warming are challenging for humanity. International cooperation and the formation of joint approaches to solving global challenges are of paramount importance for sustainable development. Like many countries in the region, Ukraine threatens to increase the number of natural disasters, floods in the Carpathians, transformation southern region steppe into the desert, flooding coastal parts and a shortage of drinking water in the central and eastern regions. Thus, this study explores the international mechanism of the environmental information access as a complex multi-level system, which determines various types of international cooperation. Environmental information access is of great practical importance both for humanity as a whole and for further reformation of the legislation of individual countries in order to ensure sustainable development, as well as to improve the practical activities of civil society. The findings show the need for people`s lifestyle changes, their environmental education and work. We therefore propose the international mechanism of the environmental information access as cooperation framework which enables companies and business communities more effectively and creatively solve economic and social problems.Keywords: Environmental information, information human rights, sustainable development, EU environmental policy, environmental human rights


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