“Introduction to Environment and Climate Law for Pacific Lawyers and Judges — Training Curriculum with a focus on Fiji and Papua New Guinea”

Keynote Statement by Ian Fry, Special Rapporteur for the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change

Distinguished Chief Justices,

Your honours,

Excellencies,

Colleagues,

Talofa,

As the former Ambassador for Climate Change and Environment for the Government of Tuvalu and now newly appointed Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Climate Change, it is a great please and honour to address you today.

The mandate given to me by the UN Human Rights Council is quite broad and covers human rights in the implementation of mitigation and adaptation policies; indigenous and local traditional knowledge, exchange views on gender responsive, age-sensitive, disability inclusive policies, to raise awareness of human rights affected by climate change especially in least developed countries, and small island developing states and many other issues.

It goes on to describe the particular vulnerabilities of small island developing States.

Let me remind you of the recent Working Group II report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which clearly spells out that widespread and severe loss and damage to human and natural systems are being driven by human-induced climate changes increasing the frequency and/or intensity and/or duration of extreme weather events.

In the context of understanding the connection between human rights and climate change I would briefly like to draw your attention to various sources of international law that you may find useful in consideration of cases before you.

First, is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Article 25 says that “everyone has a right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family”.

Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

“1. Every human being has the inherent right to life. This right shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life.”

The Paris Agreement preamble states:

“Acknowledging that climate change is a common concern of humankind, Parties should, when taking action to address climate change, respect, promote and consider their respective obligations on human rights, the right to health, the rights of indigenous peoples local communities, migrants, children, persons with disabilities and people in vulnerable situations and the right to development, as well as gender equality, empowerment of women and intergenerational equity.”

Last year, the UN Human Rights Council passed resolution 48/13: The human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment , which:

“Recognizes the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment as a human right that is important for the enjoyment of human rights;”

A resolution of the same wording will go before the UN General Assembly in June this year and hopefully it will pass.

I also want to draw attention to the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean known as the Escazú Agreement, which includes:

“contributing to the protection of the right of every person of present and future generations to live in a healthy environment and to sustainable development.”

I hope the Pacific region will be able to develop a similar agreement.

Finally, and sadly, in many parts of the world we are seeing human rights defenders being arbitrarily incarcerated, tortured and/or killed without any proper judicial process. I implore you to protect the rights of human rights defenders.

I wish you all the best in your workshop. You have excellent people facilitating this workshop and please remember that as a Special Rapporteur I am available to assist you in the future.

Faafetai lasi

On 16 May 2022, I spoke at the Virtual Panel Discussion on gender equality and climate change organized by the Permanent Mission of Egypt in Geneva and UN Women. The Panel was an opportunity to make the link with the Agreed Conclusions of the recently concluded 66th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW66), which had as its priority theme: “Achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women in the context of climate change, environmental and disaster risk reduction policies and programmes”. Moreover, the discussion at the Panel addressed the COP27 Presidency’s vision- which was initially elaborated through a paper that was launched on CSW66 - on how to ensure a just environmental transition for women.

Recently, there has been several work undertaken to address the direct relationship between gender equality and climate change.

1. Commission on the Status of Women / UN Women Expert Group Meeting

In the purview of the Commission on the Status of Women, the report by the UN Women Expert Group Meeting noted that “there is a neglect of the critical links between gender equality, human rights, social equity and justice and climate change and environmental issues”. The report further noted that “women are disproportionately affected by climate change, environmental degradation and disasters, their risks are not innate, but rather produced and mediated by existing gender inequalities and discriminatory gender norms across societies”.

There is high prevalence of violence against women and girls and lack of access to justice, which worsen in climate and environmental crises and disasters. On that issue, I recently attended a forum organised by the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and there were many disturbing accounts of how climate change was creating greater incidences of violence against women.

Ian Fry, SR human rights & climate change on Twitter: "Attended a very informative on line discussion on gender based violence and climate change organised by Reem Alsalem @UNSRVAW Report by @IUCN on #GBV and environment is a useful resource on this issue: https://t.co/bOFHHQ8QTe https://t.co/VH2VReRCGv / Twitter"

Attended a very informative on line discussion on gender based violence and climate change organised by Reem Alsalem @UNSRVAW Report by @IUCN on #GBV and environment is a useful resource on this issue: https://t.co/bOFHHQ8QTe https://t.co/VH2VReRCGv

Further conclusions of the report by UN Women Expert Group Meeting referred to:

• marginalization or exclusion of women and gender non-conforming peoples in national and local governance and decision making;
• a need to apply the principle of free, prior and informed consent to protect the rights and territories of colonized and indigenous peoples and local communities;
• a need to ensure rights-based, gender-responsive policy coherence between climate, environment and disaster risk reduction frameworks; and
• a need to create pathways and opportunities for women to enter skilled trades and jobs in the sustainable energy sector and women environmental human rights defenders, including indigenous women, are particularly vulnerable to rising threats and acts of gender-based violence.

2. Women and Gender Constituency of the UNFCCC

At the Glasgow COP26, the Women and Gender Constituency of the UNFCCC came forward with some recommendations. For instance, a recommendation was related to creating a specific financing facility to address loss and damage and to publish a Loss and Damage Gap Report with a strong gender focus. In addition, a recommendation was made to improve gender- and sex-disaggregated data collection and analysis around loss and damage.

3. Report on Gender, Climate and Security: Sustaining inclusive pace on the frontlines of climate change

The recent report by UN Women, UNEP, DPPA, UNDP on Sustaining inclusive peace on the frontlines of climate change referred to the need to ensure that gender considerations are appropriately reflected in debates and deliberations on emerging policy on climate-related security risks — not only to strengthen awareness and understanding of particular vulnerabilities, but also to highlight opportunities for leadership and inclusion of women and marginalized groups in decision-making processes.

4. Representation at COP

If we look at the a factsheet by WEDO, women made up 39 % of national delegations in 2019, compared to 32 % in 2009. The progress in creating gender balance at representation at COP is still very slow.

4. UNFCCC’s Lima work programme on gender and its Gender Action Plan

A decision was taken to review of the implementation of the enhanced Lima work programme on gender and its gender action plan (GAP) at the sixty-first session of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation in November 2024. Before that, at the fifth-sixth session in June 2022, the Subsidiary Body for Implementation is asked to identify progress and further work to be undertaken, and to conduct an intermediate review of the progress of implementation of the activities contained in the gender action plan.

I welcome Egypt’s vision as the Presidency of COP27 and its briefing note on “Global Perspective: Women Environment and Climate Change” but it may need to be placed into a broader perspective on gender and to be formalised. In particular, there is an urgent need to enhance the UNFCCC Gender Action Plan. In this regard, I humbly suggest the following recommendations:

1. Strongly encourage the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) Chair to commence work on a review of the enhanced Lima work programme on gender and its gender action plan;

2. Strongly encourage the COP27 Presidency to lead the work in developing a revised Gender Action Plan (GAP) based on the recommendations of the Commission on the Status of Women;

3. To establish a consultative group of gender experts who represent international, national and local interests to assist in the revision of the Gender Action Plan (GAP); and

4. To present recommendations for a revised Gender Action Plan (GAP) for consideration by the COP at its 27th session.

UN Human Rights Council on Twitter: "At #HRC49, the Human Rights Council appointed Ian Fry as Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of #ClimateChange.INFO ▶ https://t.co/A1zVPfH4nf pic.twitter.com/rXJ41pEie6 / Twitter"

At #HRC49, the Human Rights Council appointed Ian Fry as Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of #ClimateChange.INFO ▶ https://t.co/A1zVPfH4nf pic.twitter.com/rXJ41pEie6

During my first week as Special Rapporteur, I travelled to Geneva and met with civil society organizations and States who have advocated for the establishment of my mandate, some of them have advocated for more than 10 years. They have worked to bring climate change and human rights together and I am grateful for all of their hard work to make my mandate a reality.

Ian Fry, SR human rights & climate change on Twitter: "During my 1st week as Special Rapporteur, I met with CSOs and States who have advocated for the establishment of my mandate. They have worked to bring climate change and human rights together. I am grateful for all of their hard work to make my mandate a reality. / Twitter"

During my 1st week as Special Rapporteur, I met with CSOs and States who have advocated for the establishment of my mandate. They have worked to bring climate change and human rights together. I am grateful for all of their hard work to make my mandate a reality.

I am only into my second week of this position, so I am just gathering my thoughts on how I will undertake my work as Special Rapporteur. I have identified some key themes which I would like to indicate to you on how I am currently thinking. These are preliminary ideas at this stage and I would welcome any feedback on this in the comments below.

I plan to elaborate further and introduce these key themes in my first report to the Human Rights Council which will provide my vision and scope of the mandate as well as shape my activities in the next three years. I will present this report at the Human Rights Council on 23 June 2022 (10:00 a.m.- 1:00 p.m. time in Geneva).

1. Climate Change Displacement

The first theme is Climate Change Displacement. Recent studies suggest that in 2020, 7 million people were displaced by disasters. 98 per cent of these are climate related disasters. For those displaced across international borders they are not defined as refugees under the 1951 Refugee Convention. There is no legal definition for a climate change refugee. These people fall through the cracks as far as legal protection is concerned. I will certainly be looking at how to address this gap in legal protection.

2. Loss and Damage

Next is the issue of Loss and Damage. This issue is firmly incorporated in the Paris Agreement under Article 8 but has been slow to make progress due to the reluctance to address this issue by some countries. I want to put a human rights perspective in this issue and to explore what is needed to advance issues around finance for loss and damage.

3. Just Transition

The third item on my list is Just Transition. We know that as countries advance their nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement, people in the fossil fuel industry will be looking for new employment options. The fundamental right to work will be challenged and we need to find options to help these people move towards employment that is linked to sustainable and renewable energy economies.

4. Participation and Inclusion

The next item on my agenda is Participation and Inclusion. We need to find a voice for people whose human rights are being affected by climate change. Some of the groups that I mentioned earlier will be a focus of a participation and inclusion agenda. The protection of human rights defenders comes into this work stream as well.

5. Business, Human Rights and Climate Change

We know that business has a significant responsibility with respect to human rights and climate change. Therefore, Business Human Rights and Climate Change is my next theme. I have already had a meeting with the Working Group on Business and Human Rights to discuss the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. I certainly would like to look at responsibilities of business to disclose their investments in the fossil fuel industry and to explore their obligations with respect to disclosing their obligations with respect to human rights and climate change.

6. Technical Response to Climate Change

Looking at the human rights implications of Technical Responses to Climate Change is another theme I will be looking at. We know that certain so-called technical mitigation responses such as geoengineering are likely to have significant human rights implications. As we learnt with the Clean Development Mechanism, carbon trading can have significant human rights implications.

7. Litigation

Next on my list is Litigation. I will be looking at various approaches to climate change litigation. I have already been invited to speak at a workshop for judges from the Pacific on climate change and human rights. I also want to look at rights of access to courts. We know that some youth groups have been denied access to some courts for climate change litigation. These limitations need to be explored.

8. Linkage with other Special Rapporteurs

Finally, I want to look at linkages with the work of Other Special Rapporteurs. There are a number of Special Rapporteurs that have included climate change within their work. This includes mandates related to women, health, safe environment, water, and housing to name a few. I want to make sure that my work complements the work of other Special Rapporteurs.

This will be a challenging program and I look forward to this challenge.

Ian Fry

Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change

Email: ohchr-srclimatechange@un.org