Human rights and climate change: Constructing a case for political action

Harvard Environmental Law Review

Volumn 33, Issue 2, 2009, Pages 439-476

  Limon, Marc ^a  

^a L'Office des Nations Unies a Geneve   (Switzerland)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

CLIMATE CHANGE; CONFERENCE PROCEEDING; ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY; GLOBAL CLIMATE; GLOBAL WARMING; HUMAN RIGHTS; INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION;

EID: 70249147660     PISSN: 01478257     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Conference Paper

References (253)

1. The Resolution, which secured eighty co-sponsors, was adopted by consensus. U. N. Human Rights Council [UNHRC] Res. 7/23, U. N. Doc. A/HRC/7/78 (Mar. 28, 2008) [hereinafter UNHRC 7/23].
2. Id. at pmbl.
3. The UNFCCC definition of "climate change" is "a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods." United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change art. 1 (2), May 9, 1992, S. Treaty Doc. No. 102-38, 1771 U. N. T. S. 107 [hereinafter UNFCCC].
4. The term "human rights" refers to the core set of rights proclaimed under international law on behalf of all individuals, regardless of "race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status." International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights art. 2 (1), Dec. 16, 1966, 999 U. N. T. S. 171 [hereinafter ICCPR];
5. accord International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights art. 2 (2), Dec. 16, 1966, 993 U. N. T. S. 3 [hereinafter ICESCR]. The primary source texts are the 1966 ICCPR and ICESCR, and the 1948 Universal Declaration on Human Rights. The human rights laid out in these documents are generally referred to as "civil and political" on the one hand, and "economic, social and cultural" on the other. The former include rights to life, liberty, property, freedom of expression and assembly, political participation, a fair trial, privacy and home life, and protection from torture. The latter include rights to work, to education, to social security, to "enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health," and to "adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions."
6. ICESCR, supra, arts. 11 (1)-12 (1). Whereas the former rights are typically guaranteed through judicial mechanisms, including at the international level, the latter are aspirational (states, to the maximum of available resources, must pursue their progressive attainment) and have generally been dependent upon domestic welfare mechanisms in the absence of any dedicated international judicial machinery (although the recent adoption of the Optional Protocol to the ICESCR does for the first time provides victims of violations of economic, social, and cultural rights with an international accountability mechanism).
7. See Int'l Council on Human Rights Policy, Climate Change and Human Rights: A Rough Guide (2008) [hereinafter Climate Change and Human Rights], available at http://books.google.com/books?id=yMOnLamOiccC&printsec= frontcover&dq=CLIMATE+CHANGE+AND+HUMAN+RIGHTS:+A+ROUGH+GUIDE; G. A. Res. 63/117, U. N. Doc. A/RES/63/117 (Dec. 10, 2008).
8. U. N. Dev. Programme, Human Development Report 2007/2008, at 3 (2007) [hereinafter Human Development Report].
9. See Martin Wagner & Donald M. Goldberg, An Inuit Petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for Dangerous Impacts of Climate Change (2004) (paper presented at the 10th Conference of Parties to the Framework Convention on Climate Change in Buenos Aires, Argentina), available at http://www.ciel.org/Publications/COP10-Handout-EJCIEL.pdf
10. Id.
11. Petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Seeking Relief from Violations Resulting from Global Warming Caused by Acts and Omissions of the United States (Dec. 7, 2005), at 70 [hereinafter Inuit Petition], available at http://www.inuitcircumpolar.com/files/uploads/icc-files/finalpetitionicc.pdf
12. Letter from Ariel E. Dulitzky, Assistant Executive Sec'y, Org. of Am. States Inter-Am. Comm. on Human Rights to the Inuit Alliance, Earthjustice, and Ctr. for Int'l Envtl. Law (Feb. 1, 2007) (inviting them to provide testimony before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights), available at http://www.ciel.org/Publications/IACHR-Response-lFeb07.pdf
13. Rights Focus Sought over Climate, B. B. C. News, Dec. 11, 2006, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6166835.stm (on file with the Harvard Environmental Law Review).
14. Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, President of the Maldives, Speech at Royal Commonwealth Society (July 17, 2007), available at http://www.maldivesmission. ch/fileadmin/Pdf/Envi ronment/Speech-by-President-Gayoom-to-Royal-Commonwealth- Society-July-07.pdf. In 1987, President Gayoom gave two speeches in North America - one to Commonwealth leaders meeting in Vancouver and one to world leaders at the U. N. General Assembly in which he gave early warning about the peril of climate change - especially for small island states.
15. See Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, President of the Maldives, Speech at Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Oct. 15, 1987), available at http://www.presidencymaldives.gov. mv/speeches/VANCOUVER-15101987.pdf;
16. Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, President of the Maldives, Speech to U. N. General Assembly on the Issues of Environment and Development (Oct. 19, 1987), available at http://www.presidencymaldives.gov. mv/speeches/UNGA-1987.pdf
17. Gayoom, Speech at Royal Commonwealth Society, supra note 11.
18. Id.
19. Permanent Mission of the Republic of Maldives to the United Nations Office at Geneva, Human Rights and Climate Change, http://www.maldivesmission. ch/index.php?id=68 (last visited Apr. 8, 2009) (on file with the Harvard Environmental Law Review).
20. Small Island States Conference, Malé, Maldives, Nov. 13-14, 2007, Malé Declaration on the Human Dimension of Global Climate Change, at 2 (Nov. 14, 2007), available at http://www.ciel.org/Publications/Male-Declaration- Nov07.pdf
21. Maumoon Abul Gayoom, President of the Maldives, Address at 13th Session of the Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC (Dec. 12, 2007), available at http://www.mal divesmission. ch/fileadmin/Pdf/Environment/President-at Bali-Conference-2012122007 final-.pdf
22. Kyung-wha Kang, Deputy High Comm'r for Human Rights, Office of the U. N. High Comm'r for Human Rights, Address at the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocol (Dec. 14, 2007), available at http://www. maldivesmission. ch/fileadmin/Pdf/Environment/DHC-Statement-Bali-Final.pdf
23. Climate Change and Human Rights, supra note 4.
24. See Organization of American States [OAS], General Assembly Res. AG/Res. 2429 (XXXVIH-O/08), OAS Doc. AG/doc.4886/08 (June 3, 2008).
25. See Oxfam Int'l, Climate Wrongs and Human Rights: Putting People at the Heart of Climate-Change Policy (2008), available at http://www.oxfam.org/sites/ www.oxfam.org/files/bp117-climate-wrongs-and-human-rights-0809.pdf
26. Mary Robinson, Barbara Ward Lecture at Chatham House: Climate Change and Justice (Dec. 11, 2006), available at http://www.realizingrights.org/pdf/Barbara Ward-Lecture-12-11-06-FINAL.pdf
27. The Global Humanitarian Forum's inaugural annual meeting was titled "The Human Face of Climate Change," and the Forum's current strategic focus is "The Human Impact of Climate Change."
28. See Global Humanitarian Forum Geneva, Forum 2008: The Human Face of Climate Change (2008), available at http://www.ghf-geneva.org (follow "A Forum Report: The Human Face of Climate Change" hyperlink).
29. See Human Development Report, supra note 5, at 4.
30. General segments feature keynote statements on human rights (ambassadorial-level) by states that were not able to be represented at ministerialor senior government-level.
31. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Maldives, Abdulla Shahid, also raised the issue of climate change in a speech during the sixth session of the Council. Abdulla Shahid, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Maldives, Statement at the Sixth Session of the Human Rights Council of the United Nations (Sept. 20, 2007), available at http://www.foreign.gov.mv/v2/speech.php?speech= 10&page=3.
32. Ojo Maduekwe, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nigeria, Statement at High-Level Segment of the Seventh Session of the Human Rights Council (Mar. 4, 2008), available at http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/7session/hls/ Nigeria-E.pdf;
33. Sonam T. Rabgye, Permanent Representative of Bhutan to the United Nations, Statement at High-Level Segment of the Seventh Session of the Human Rights Council (Mar. 5, 2008) (on file with the Harvard Environmental Law Review);
34. Alberto G. Romulo, Sec'y of Foreign Affairs of the Phil., Statement at High-Level Segment of the Seventh Session of the Human Rights Council: Behind a Common Cause: Advancing with Resolve, Finding Strength in Synergy (Mar. 3, 2008), available at http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/7session/hls/ Philippines-E.pdf;
35. Abdulla Shahid, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Maldives, Statement at High-Level Segment of the Seventh Session of the Human Rights Council (Mar. 4, 2008), available at http://www2. ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/7session/ hls/Maldives-E.pdf;
36. Sacha Sergio Llorenti Soliz, Vice Minister for the Coordination of Soc. Movements & Civil Soc. of Bol., at High-Level Segment of the Seventh Session of the Human Rights Council (Mar. 3, 2008), available at http://www2.ohchr.org/ english/bodies/hrcouncil/7session/hls/Bolivia-S.pdf;
37. Franciscos Verros, Permanent Representative of Greece to the United Nations at Geneva, Statement at High-Level Segment of the Seventh Session of the Human Rights Council (Mar. 5, 2008) (on file with the Harvard Environmental Law Review);
38. N. Hassan Wirajuda, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Indon., Statement at High-Level Segment of the Seventh Session of the Human Rights Council (Mar. 4, 2008), available at http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/7session/hls/ Indonesia-E.pdf
39. Cosponsors were (in order of signature):Maldives, Uruguay, Sri Lanka, Costa Rica, Switzerland, Greece, Burkina Faso, Spain, Iceland, United Kingdom, Bangladesh, Djibouti, Chile, Bhutan, Austria, New Zealand, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Mali, East Timor, Serbia, Slovenia, Portugal, Italy, Uganda, Panama, Montenegro, Peru, Nicaragua, Tuvalu, Fiji, Comoros, Micronesia, Cyprus, Mauritania, Ivory Coast, Albania, Malta, Luxembourg, Mauritius, Singapore, Estonia, Ireland, Madagascar, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Norway, France, Nepal, Zambia, Bolivia, Kenya, Botswana, Monaco, Philippines, Ghana, Syria, Pakistan, India, Azerbaijan, Netherlands, Ukraine, Senegal, Cape Verde, Sweden, Samoa, Suriname, Australia, Seychelles, Gambia, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Cameroon, El Salvador, Guinea, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. UNHRC, Report of the Human Rights Council on its Seventh Session, at 149, U. N. Doc A/HRC/7/78 (July 14, 2008) (prepared by Alejandro Artucio).
40. UNHRC 7/23, supra note 1, pmbl. During negotiations on the resolution, there was significant opposition to this paragraph with some countries arguing that there was no definitive U. N. assessment to prove the premise.
41. Id. ¶¶ 1-3. Two other Council resolutions on the "right to adequate housing" (Res. 6/27) and the "right to food" (Res. 7/14), adopted during the Sixth and Seventh Sessions respectively, also made explicit reference to the effects of climate change on human rights.
42. See UNHRC Res. 6/27, U. N. Doc. A/HRC/6/22 (Apr. 14, 2008) [hereinafter UNHRC 6/27];
43. UNHRC Res. 7/14, U. N. Doc. A/HRC/7/78 (July 14, 2008) [hereinafter UNHRC 7/14].
44. Office of the U. N. High Comm'r for Human Rights [OHCHR], Report of the Office of the U. N. High Commissioner for Human Rights on the Relationship Between Human Rights and Climate Change, U. N. Doc. A/HRC/10/61 (Jan. 15, 2009) [hereinafter OHCHR Report].
45. Indeed, such resistance was still evident in March 2009 during negotiations to follow-up U. N. Human Rights Council Resolution 10/4 on human rights and climate change, during which some delegations continued to push for softer language such as "climate change-related effects may have implications for the effective enjoyment of human rights," and "these potential implications may affect individuals and communities around the world." However, this conditionalized wording was not acceptable to the main co-sponsors as it would have represented a step back from what had been agreed in preamble paragraph 1 of Resolution 7/23.
46. Submission of Canada to OHCHR Report, Government of Canada Response, at 1 (Nov. 2008) [hereinafter Canada OHCHR Report Submission] (emphasis added), available at http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/climatechange/docs/canada.pdf
47. Submission of U. K. to OHCHR Report, Assessment at National Level of the Impact of Climate Change (Experienced or Anticipated) on Human Lives and on Population Most Affected and Vulnerable, ¶ 20 (2008) [hereinafter U. K. OHCHR Report Submission], available at http://www2.ohchr.org/English/issues/ climatechange/docs/submissions/uk.pdf
48. Submission of U. S. to OHCHR Report, Observations by the United States of America on the Relationship Between Climate Change and Human Rights, ¶ 14 (2008) [hereinafter U. S. OHCHR Report Submission], available at http://www2.ohchr.org/English/issues/climate change/docs/submissions/USA.pdf
49. Id. ¶ 15.
50. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ("IPCC"), Fourth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2007: Synthesis Report (2007) [hereinafter IPCC AR4], available at http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ary/syr/ar4- syr.pdf
51. OHCHR Report, supra note 30, ¶¶ 6-7.
52. Id. ¶ 18.
53. U. N. Conference on the Human Environment, Stockholm, Swed., June 5-16, 1972, Declaration of the U. N. Conference on the Human Environment, U. N. Doc. A/CONF.48/14 (June 16, 1972) [hereinafter Stockholm Declaration].
54. OHCHR Report, supra note 30, ¶¶ 17-18.
55. Id. ¶ 69.
56. Id. ¶ 20.
57. Id. ¶¶ 21-41.
58. Id. ¶ 29, 36, 56.
59. See infra Annex 1 (outlining the various impacted rights);
60. see also Submission of Maldives to OHCHR Report, Human Rights and Climate Change (Sept. 2008) [hereinafter Maldives OHCHR Report Submission], available at http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/climatechange/docs/submissions/Maldives- Submission.pdf
61. OHCHR Report, supra note 30, ¶ 93.
62. Id. ¶ 94.
63. Id. ¶¶ 65-68.
64. Climate Change and Human Rights, supra note 4, at 3.
65. Submission of Marshall Islands to OHCHR Report, National Communication Regarding the Relationship Between Human Rights & the Impacts of Climate Change (Dec. 2008) [hereinafter Marshall Islands OHCHR Report Submission], available at http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/climatechange/docs/Republic- of-the-Marshall-Islands.doc.
66. UNHRC, Report of the Human Rights Council on Its Tenth Session, at 159, U. N. Doc. A/HRC/10/29 (Apr. 20, 2009) (prepared by Elchin Amirbayov).
67. UNHRC Res. 10/4, pmbl., U. N. Doc. A/HRC/10/29 (Mar. 20, 2009) [hereinafter UNHRC 10/4]. The Resolution highlights, in particular: "the right to life, the right to adequate food, the right to the highest attainable standard of health, the right to adequate housing, the right to self-determination, and human rights obligations related to safe drinking water and sanitation. "
68. Id. The Resolution also recalls that, under international human rights law, in no case may a people be deprived of its own means of subsistence.
69. Id. It is particularly noteworthy and significant that states, especially major emitting states, agreed to include the right to life, the right to self-determination, and the right of nations to their own means of subsistence in the list.
70. Id. (building on preambular paragraphs 8-9 in UNHRC 7/23, supra note 1).
71. Climate Change and Human Rights, supra note 4, at 3.
72. If it is to effectively influence the Bali Process, which is due (though far from certain) to conclude in December 2009, the human rights community, led by the Council, will need to draw conclusions quickly and feed these into UNFCCC-level discussions and proposals.
73. The Bali Road Map was the end product of the U. N. Climate Change Conference 2007/COP 13 in Bali, Indonesia. It consists of a number of forward-looking decisions that represent the various tracks that are essential to reaching a secure climate future. The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali, http://unfccc.int/meetings/cop-13/items/4049.php (last visited Apr. 22, 2009) (on file with the Harvard Environmental Law Review).
74. The Bali Road Map includes the Bali Action Plan (Decision 1/CP.13), which charts the course for a new negotiating process designed to tackle climate change, with the aim of completing this Plan by the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009/COP 15 in Copenhagen in December 2009. U. N. Climate Change Conference 2007 Decision 1/CP.13, U. N. Doc. FCCC/CP/2007/6/Add. 1 (Mar. 14, 2008) [hereinafter Decision 1/CP.13].
75. Decision 1/CP.13, supra note 56, ¶ 1;
76. see also UNHRC 10/4, supra note 52, pmbl.
77. In 1979, the United States National Academy of Sciences published an assessment of the scientific basis for climate change which concluded that: "[i]f carbon dioxide continues to increase, the study group finds no reason to doubt that climate change will result and no reason to believe that these changes will be negligible." Edward Cameron, The Human Dimension of Global Climate Change, 15 Hastings W.-Nw. J. Envtl. L. & Pol'y. 1, 8 (2009) (quoting Nat'l Acad, of Sci., Carbon Dioxide and Climate: A Scientific Assessment, at viii (1979), available at http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record- id=12181).
78. In 1987, President Gayoom became the first world leader to raise the issue of climate change at the United Nations General Assembly when he delivered his famous "Death of a Nation" speech. Gayoom, Speech at Royal Commonwealth Society, supra note 11, at 6. A few weeks earlier, he also raised the issue at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Canada. Gayoom, Speech at Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, supra note 11, at 2-4.
79. James Gustave Speth, Red Sky at Morning: America and the Crisis of the Global Environment, at xii, 5-6 (2005).
80. Marshall Islands OHCHR Report Submission, supra note 50, at 13-14.
81. During OHCHR open-ended informal consultations on the relationship between climate change and human rights, on October 22, 2008, the Maldives delegation proposed substituting the phrase "rights-based approach," which is suggestive of a completely new approach to existing UNFCCC processes, with the more complementary-sounding "human rights informed approach."
82. Press Release, OHCHR, Open-Ended Consultation on the Relationship Between Climate Change and Human Rights: Summary of Discussions ¶ 58 (Oct. 22, 2008) (internal quotations omitted), available at http://www2.ohchr.org/english/ issues/climatechange/docs/SummaryofDiscussions.doc.
83. See also Ibrahim Wani, Chief of the Research & Right to Dev. Branch, OHCHR, Address at the Small Island States Conference on the Human Dimension of Climate Change: The Environment and Human Rights (Nov. 14, 2007), available at http://www.maldivesmission. ch/fileadmin/Pdf/Environment/Maldives-Presentation- Wani-l 11407-Final.pdf;
84. Gayoom, supra note 16;
85. Kang, supra note 17;
86. OHCHR Report, supra note 30.
87. Mary Robinson, Op-Ed., Climate Change Is an Issue of Human Rights, Independent (London), Dec. 10, 2008, available at http://www.independent.co.uk/ opinion/commentators/mary-robinson-climate-change-is-an-issue-of-human-rights- 1059360.html.
88. Kang, supra note 17.
89. Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, President of the Maldives, Statement at the Annual Meeting 2008 of the Global Humanitarian Forum (June 24, 2008), available at http://www.maldives mission. ch/fileadmin/Pdf/Environment/HEP-Speech-to-GHF- final.pdf
90. See Statement by the Maldives at the General Debate Under Item 3, Tenth Session of the Human Rights Council (March 16, 2009), available at http://www.maldivesmission. ch/file admin/Pdf/Environment/Statement-HR-and-CC- 10-session-hfc.pdf
91. Climate Change and Human Rights, supra note 4, at 7.
92. See OHCHR Report, supra note 30, ¶¶ 42-54.
93. Marshall Islands OHCHR Report Submission, supra note 50, at 13.
94. OHCHR Report, supra note 30, ¶ 80.
95. Wani, supra note 63.
96. "Affirming that human rights obligations and commitments have the potential to inform and strengthen international and national policy-making in the area of climate change, promoting policy coherence, legitimacy and sustainable outcomes...." UNHRC 10/4, supra note 52, pmbl.
97. OHCHR Report, supra note 30, ¶ 84. As the Special Procedure mandate holders of the Human Rights Council, in a joint statement on International Human Rights Day, December 10, 2008, stated, "Today the interests of States, and the impacts of actions by States, are ever more interconnected. New challenges include ensuring global access to food, and those presented by climate change and financial crisis have potentially massive human rights and development implications. If we are to confront them effectively we must do so collectively." Press Release, Special Procedures Mandate Holders of the UNHRC, The Universal Declaration on Human Rights - Sixty Years of Inspiration and Empowerment for Human Rights (Dec. 9, 2008), available at http://www.unog.ch/unog/website/news-media.nsf/(httpNewsByYear-en)/ B9EADC37E6D21C8CC125751 A00352285?OpenDocument.
98. U. N. Charter art. 1, para. 3.
99. The International Bill of Human Rights is an informal name for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, supra note 4;
100. ICCPR, supra note 4;
101. and ICESCR, supra note 4.
102. Abdulla Shahid, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Maldives, Speech at the Opening of the Small Island States Conference on the Human Dimension of Climate Change (Nov. 13, 2007), available at http://www.maldivesmission. ch/fileadmin/Pdf/Environment/Statement-by-Minister-of-Foreign-Affairs-FINAL.pdf
103. See id.
104. OHCHR Report, supra note 30, ¶ 85 (footnotes omitted).
105. It is worth recalling that each state that has ratified the ICESCR has a duty to respect, protect, and fulfil the rights laid down in that treaty for those coming within their jurisdiction, and these duties have their own specific scope under the treaty. Int'l Comm'n of Jurists, The State Obligation to Respect, Protect, and Fulfil ICESCR Rights (n. d.), available at http://www.icj. Org/IMG/pdf/7.pdf. The obligation to respect a right means the state must take no steps that would violate that right; the obligation to protect requires states to act to ensure that other actors, including private and international actors, are not permitted to violate the right; the obligation to fulfil requires that states take steps over time to progressively realize citizens' rights to food, shelter, health, and so on. Id.
106. OHCHR, U. N. Comm. on Econ., Social and Cultural Rights [UNCESCR], General Comment 3: The Nature of States Parties Obligations, ¶ 14, U. N. Doc. E/1991/23 (Dec. 14, 1990).
107. OHCHR, U. N. Comm. on the Rights of the Child [CRC], General Comment 5: General measures of implementation for the Convention on Rights of the Child, ¶ 7, U. N. Doc. CRC/GC/2003/5 (Nov. 27, 2003).
108. OHCHR Report, supra note 30, ¶ 86;
109. see, e.g., UNCESCR, General Comment 12: The Right to Adequate Food, U. N. Doc. E/C.12/1999/5 (May 12, 1999);
110. UNCESCR, General Comment 13: The Right to Education, U. N. Doc. E/C.12/1999/10 (Dec. 8, 1999);
111. UNCESCR, General Comment 14: The Right to the Highest Attainable Standard of Health, U. N. Doc. E/C.12/2000/4 (Aug. 11, 2000);
112. UNCESCR, General Comment 15: The Right to Water, U. N. Doc. E/C.12/2002/11 (Jan. 20, 2002).
113. See John H. Knox, Linking Human Rights and Climate Change at the United Nations, 33 Harv. Envtl. L. Rev. 477, 493-96 (2009).
114. See, e.g., Maldives Delegation, Statement at the General Debate under Item 3 at the Tenth Session of the Human Rights Council (Mar. 16, 2009), available at http://www.maldivesmission. ch/fileadmin/Pdf/Environment/Statement- HR-and-CC-10-session-hrc.pdf
115. OHCHR Report, supra note 30, ¶ 99.
116. "Recognizing also that climate change is a global problem requiring a global solution, and that effective international cooperation to enable the full, effective and sustained implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in accordance with the provisions and principles of the Convention is important in order to support national efforts for the realization of human rights implicated by climate change-related impacts...." UNHRC 10/4, supra note 52, pmbl.
117. Marshall Islands OHCHR Report Submission, supra note 50, at 7 (internal quotation marks omitted) (quoting M. Crawford et al., Vulnerability Assessment for Accelerated Sea Level Rise, Case Study: Majuro Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands (1993)).
118. Cameron, supra note 58, at 6-7;
119. see also Shahid, supra note 26.
120. This is a point recognized in the conclusions of the OHCHR Report, which argue that "[f]urther study is also needed of protection mechanisms for persons who may be considered to have been displaced within or across national borders due to climate change-related events and for those populations which may be permanently displaced as a consequence of inundation of low-lying areas and island States." OHCHR Report, supra note 30, ¶ 98.
121. Maldives OHCHR Report Submission, supra note 45, at 39-40.
122. OHCHR, Human Rights Committee [CCPR], General Comment 12: The Right to Self Determination of Peoples, ¶ 14 (Mar. 13, 1984), available at http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(Symbol)/f3c99406d528f37fc 12563ed004960b4? Opendocument.
123. Maldives OHCHR Report Submission, supra note 45, at 7.
124. U. S. OHCHR Report Submission, supra note 34, ¶¶ 11-26.
125. Id.
126. Id ¶¶ 18-19.
127. Id. ¶ 20.
128. Id. ¶ 21.
129. Id. ¶ 23.
130. Id.¶¶ 23-24.
131. Difficult, but not impossible. For example, the ICHRP has argued that "specific actors are responsible for climate change - namely those who overuse carbon fuels, albeit in highly varying degrees.... The question is thus whether this group can be broken down into definite and identifiable parties to whom responsibility can be attributed in a specific and discrete manner." Climate Change and Human Rights, supra note 4, at 65. Another way of assigning responsibility and harm is suggested by Massachusetts v. Envtl. Prot. Agency, 549 U. S. 497 (2007). Here, EPA was found responsible for harms caused by greenhouse gases because it was aware of the potential for harm and had the power to regulate emissions, but did not act.
132. Id. at 533. If it had acted, some injuries, both past and future, might conceivably have been avoided.
133. Id. at 500. In its OHCHR submission, the United States obliquely recognizes the possibility that "novel theories of responsibility" might be devised, leading to "climate-related human rights claims ⋯ gain[ing] traction. "
134. U. S. OHCHR Report Submission, supra note 34, ¶ 96;
135. see also Knox, supra note 84, at 488-89.
136. Which, in addition to the U. S. submission, was also made by a number of other states, including the U. K.
137. OHCHR Report, supra note 30, ¶ 26.
138. Climate Change and Human Rights, supra note 4, at 8.
139. A third theoretical use of human rights proposed in the OHCHR Report - to emphasize to states that "irrespective of the additional strain climate change-related events may place on available resources," they in any case "remain under an obligation to ensure the widest possible enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights" - seems perverse from the perspective of small vulnerable countries, which are, in effect, being told to take additional strain so as to honor their obligations in the face of a phenomenon (climate change) for which they bear almost no responsibility. OHCHR Report, supra note 30, ¶ 77.
140. This is not to say that human rights should not also eventually be used as an accountability framework for addressing harm, responsibility, and redress. However, at present, human rights law, which is overwhelmingly understood as a national contract between citizen and state, is not geared to this utility.
141. Climate Change and Human Rights, supra note 4, at 3.
142. Id. at 3. Although, in the case of the IPCC, the social sciences are making a belated impact. The Maldives secured a vice chair position on the IPCC Working Group II on Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability during 2008 partly on a platform of encouraging the expansion of the body's work to include economics, social sciences, and human rights.
143. Climate Change and Human Rights, supra note 4, at 3.
144. ICHRP has noted that the words "human rights" are almost totally absent from core UNFCCC and IPCC documentation.
145. Id. Mainstream climate change literature also almost completely ignores human rights.
146. Id.
147. For example, some Caribbean small island state climate change negotiators have been openly hostile to any attempt to integrate human rights principles or language into the UNFCCC negotiations because, in essence, they see human rights as being limited to those core civil and political rights (e.g., right to freedom of expression, right to trial, right to vote, and right to life) that are often used as a tool for the developed world to criticize the developing world.
148. Climate Change and Human Rights, supra note 4, at 3.
149. This reasoning also explains the reticence of many states to ask OHCHR to prepare the study on human rights and climate change, as they felt it was beyond the organization's competence and capacity. This in turn explains why UNHRC 7/23 stipulates that the report must be compiled "in consultation with and taking into account the views of the IPCC and UNFCCC, and also why the final report clearly states that it is entirely formulated on the basis of agreed science (i.e., IPCC and UNFCCC science). UNHRC 7/23, supra note 1, ¶ 1.
150. Climate Change and Human Rights, supra note 4, at 3.
151. U. S. OHCHR Report Submission, supra note 34, ¶ 4.
152. Submission of Canada to OHCHR Study, Government of Canada Response to Request for Information by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Concerning a Request in Human Rights Council Resolution 7/23 for a Detailed Analytical Study of the Relationship Between Climate Change and Human Rights, at 1 (2008) [hereinafter Canada OHCHR Report Submission], available at http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/climate change/docs/canada.pdf
153. The impact of climate change, within the context of their mandate, has been or is being actively addressed by a range of different U. N. bodies including, inter alia, the United Nations Development Programme ("UNDP"), the World Health Organisation ("WHO"), and the Office of the U. N. High Commissioner for Refugees ("UNHCR").
154. This explains the presence in UNHRC 7/23 of the instruction for the Council to "make available" the study and the summary of the debate to the Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC.
155. See UNHRC 7/23, supra note 1, ¶ 3. "Make available" had originally read "transmit." However, this was opposed by some delegations that did not support such finality and wanted to leave the Council's options open.
156. This explains the language in UNHRC 7/23 that refers to the UNFCCC as "the comprehensive global framework to deal with climate change issues." UNHRC 7/23, supra note 1, ¶ 5 (emphasis added).
157. This concern is clearly evident in the U. S. submission to the OHCHR study, which states: "Even if novel theories of responsibility are devised and climate-related human rights claims ⋯ gain traction ⋯ the overall results are not likely to meaningfully contribute to the underlying need to slow, stop and reverse worldwide emissions.... The process of pursuing human rights claims would be adversarial and require affixing blame to particular entities; this contrasts with efforts to achieve international cooperation that have thus far been pursued through the international climate change negotiations."
158. U. S. OHCHR Report Submission, supra note 34, ¶ 26.
159. These concerns are evident in the U. K. submission, which made clear that "[t]he United Kingdom recognises that climate change may impact on the full enjoyment of human rights at the national level."
160. U. K. OHCHR Report Submission, supra note 33, at 4 (emphasis added). The U. S. submission offers lengthy arguments as to why a right to a sustainable
161. U. S. OHCHR Report Submission, supra note 34, ¶¶ 11-27. In its submission, the United States said that it "considers a safe and sustainable environment to be an essential and shared goal - one that may further the realization of certain human rights.... However, the United States does not consider that a right to a 'safe environment' ⋯ exists under international law." Id. ¶¶ 3-4.
162. This explains the presence of repeated references in UNHRC 7/23 of "the right to development." UNHRC 7/23, supra note 1, pmbl.
163. U. K. OHCHR Report Submission, supra note 33, at 3.
164. U. S. OHCHR Report Submission, supra note 34, ¶ 6.
165. IPCC, Geneva, Switz., Aug. 31-Sept. 4, 2008, Draft Report of the Twenty-Ninth Session, at 4-6
166. IPCC Doc. IPCC-XXX/Doc.5 (Apr. 2009), available at http://www.ipcc.ch/ meetings/session30/doc5.pdf;
167. see also Abduliahi Majeed, Deputy Minister of Env't of the Maldives, Statement During Discussion on Agenda Item 8: Future IPCC Activities (2008), available at http://www.maldivesmission.ch/fileadmin/Pdf/Environment/Statement- IPCC-0908.pdf
168. In a further sign of growing interest on the part of the UNFCCC Secretariat in the potential utility of human rights principles in the context of climate change policy, the Secretariat prepared a statement on human rights and climate change for delivery during the Tenth Session of the Human Rights Council. Unfortunately, due to changes in the scheduling of the Session, it was unable to deliver it. UNFCCC Secretariat, Draft Oral Statement at the 10th Session of the Human Rights Council (2009) (on file with Harvard Environmental Law Review).
169. OHCHR Report, supra note 30, ¶ 99.
170. Id. ¶ 180.
171. See also CIEL & FES, Human Rights and Climate Change: Practical Steps for Implementation 42 (2009) [hereinafter Practical Steps], available at http://www.ciel.org/Publications/CCandHRE-Feb09.pdf. Participants included Mary Robinson, former U. N. High Commissioner for Human Rights;
172. Catarina de Albuquerque, the U. N. Independent Expert on the right to water and former Chair of the U. N. Working Group on the Optional Protocol to the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;
173. Olivier De Schutter, U. N. Special Rapporteur on the right to food;
174. Virginia Bras-Gomes, Member of the U. N. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;
175. Miloon Kothari, former U. N. Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing;
176. Angus Friday, former Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States;
177. Ibrahim Wani, Chief of Research at OHCHR;
178. Marc Limon, Permanent Mission of the Maldives to the U. N. at Geneva;
179. Kilaparti Ramakrishna, Chief of cross-sectoral issues at UNEP;
180. and various representatives of the UNFCCC, World Bank, the Global Humanitarian Forum, the ICHRP, Earthjustice, CIEL, Tebtebba Foundation (indigenous persons group), and Harvard University.
181. Id. at 34.
182. See also id. at 13-32.
183. See also id. at 13-27.
184. See also id.
185. UNHRC 6/27, supra note 29, ¶ 3. Resolution 6/27 was the first resolution by either the Human Rights Council or its predecessor, the U. N. Commission on Human Rights, to contain the words "climate change." During the following Seventh Session, climate change was mentioned again in both Resolution 7/23 and Resolution 7/14.
186. UNHRC 7/23, supra note 1, ¶¶ 1-3;
187. UNHRC 7/14, supra note 29, pmbl.
188. UNHRC, Report of the Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing as a Component of the Right to an Adequate Standard of Living, and on the Right to Non-Discrimination in This Context: Preliminary Note on the Mission to Maldives, ¶¶1, 3, U. N. Doc. A/HRC/10/7/Add.4 (Mar. 3, 2009) (prepared by Raquel Rolnik).
189. See also Practical Steps, supra note 129, at 13-16.
190. Special Procedures are both "independent experts" (rather than a secretariat) and are encouraged to take forward and develop issues falling within their mandate rather than commenting on the existing status quo.
191. The Council "[w]elcomes the decision of the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living to prepare and present a thematic report on the potential impact of climate change on the right to adequate housing, and encourages other relevant special procedure mandate-holders to give consideration to the issue of climate change within their respective mandates." UNHRC 10/4, supra note 52, ¶ 3.
192. See also Practical Steps, supra note 129, at 17.
193. Because new mandates are difficult to establish at the Human Rights Council, an alternative might be to expand the mandate of an existing Special Procedure, such as on toxic waste, to cover environmental degradation more broadly - and include the issue of climate change as one of the focus areas.
194. UNHRC 10/4, supra note 52, ¶ 1.
195. In which the Council decided to make the OHCHR Report and a copy of the subsequent consideration of Report at its Tenth Session available to the Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC. UNHRC 7/23, supra note 1, ¶ 3.
196. UNHRC 10/4, supra note 52, ¶ 2. Operative paragraphs 4 (which welcomes steps to establish institutional linkages between the OHCHR and the UNFCCC Secretariat) and 5 (which encourages the High Commissioner for Human Rights or a senior representative to participate in key climate change meetings) also reflect the Council's determination to support and not duplicate the UNFCCC Bali process.
197. Id. ¶¶ 4-5.
198. See also Practical Steps, supra note 129, at 22-23.
199. UNHRC, Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review, National Report Submitted in Accordance with Paragraph 15 (A) of the Annex to Human Rights Council Resolution 5/1, ¶¶ 2, 42-43, 56-57, 75, U. N. Doc. A/HRC/WG.6/3/TUV/1 (Sept. 12, 2008) (prepared by Tuvalu).
200. UNHRC, Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review - Tuvalu, ¶ 47, U. N. Doc. A/HRC/10/84 (Jan. 9, 2009).
201. See also Practical Steps, supra note 129, at 7.
202. This was in fact suggested by the Marshall Islands in its national submission, and was also referred to during the CIEL-FES meeting. Maldives OHCHR Report Submission, supra note 45, at 84.
203. UNHRC 7/23, supra note 1, pmbl.
204. The change was, in essence, due to gradual acceptance by states of the de facto reality of the idea contained in UNHRC 7/23 - that climate change has implications for the full enjoyment of human rights - both because it was now in an official U. N. document and because other stakeholders, such as U. N. human rights mechanisms, vulnerable communities, and NGOs, began regularly referring to it. What had been a philosophical argument became, over the course of a year, a perception of fact.
205. See Statement by the Maldives at the General Debate Under Item 3, supra note 67.
206. At the Fifth Session of the Ad-Hoc Working Group on Long-Term Cooperative Action under the Convention ("AWG-LCA") (March 29-April 8, Bonn), a subsidiary body of the UNFCCC tasked under the Bali Action Plan to pursue the full, effective, and sustained implementation of the Convention, the Maldives delegation began the process of trying to integrate human rights language into the draft negotiating text being prepared by the Chair of the AWGLCA. See, e.g., Maldives Delegation to the Fifth Session of the Ad-Hoc Working Group on Long-Term Cooperative Action, Proposed Draft Wording to Be Sent as National Submission to Be Included in the Negotiating Text Under Shared Vision (Apr. 2009), available at http://www.maldivesmission.ch/fileadmin/Pdf/Environment/ Maldives-wording-AWG-LCA-April-09.pdf
207. There are small signs that such an analysis has already begun. For example, during the Tenth Session of the Human Rights Council, the UNFCCC Secretariat prepared (but was finally unable to deliver) a statement on human rights and climate change in which it noted that "the human rights community can provide valuable information to UNFCCC parties as they assess, plan and implement their adaptation actions. The expertise of the human rights regime has to date been unavailable to adaptation practitioners even though human rights knowledge could be a significant addition to the methods and tools available to Parties." UNFCCC Secretariat, supra note 126, ¶ 7.
208. OHCHR Report, supra note 30, ¶ 70;
209. U. K. OHCHR Report Submission, supra note 33, ¶ 1;
210. U. S. OHCHR Report Submission, supra note 34, ¶ 25.
211. Indeed, it could be argued that they have actually worked to actively block international cooperation. See Inuit Petition, supra note 8.
212. Tuvalu sought legal advice on who might be held responsible for the imminent loss of homes and lifestyles but chose not to pursue litigation. See Akiko Okamatsu, Problems and Prospects of International Legal Disputes on Climate Change (Dec. 2, 2005) (unpublished paper), available at http://web.fu-berlin. de/ffu/akumwelt/bc2005/papers/okamatsu-bc2005.pdf;
213. Tom Price, The Canary is Drowning: Tiny Tuvalu Fights Back Against Climate Change, Global Pol'y F., Dec. 3, 2002, http://www.globalpolicy.org/ nations/micro/2002/1203canary.htm (on file with the Harvard Environmental Law Review);
214. Holley Ralston et al., Germanwatch, Climate Change Challenges Tuvalu (2004), available at http://german watch.org/download/klak/fb-tuv-e.pdf. The legal options available to small island states facing disappearance at low warming thresholds have been investigated in some detail.
215. See OHCHR, Sub-Comm'n on the Promotion & Prot. of Human Rights, Working Paper: Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Indigenous Peoples, ¶¶ 11-15, U. N. Doc. E/CN.4/Sub.2/2005/28 (June 16, 2005) (prepared by Françoise Hampson).
216. See Ahmed Shaheed, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Maldives, Speech at Commonwealth Side-Event on "Human Rights and Climate Change: The Way Forward" (Mar. 3, 2009), available at http://www.maldivesmission.ch/ fileadmin/Pdf/Environment/Speech-to-Commonwealth.pdf
217. Marc Limon, A Rights-Informed Approach to Tackling Climate Change, MEA Bull., Nov. 21, 2008, http://www.iisd.ca/mea-l/guestarticle58.html (on file with the Harvard Environmental Law Review).
218. Stockholm Declaration, supra note 39.
219. This is true even though the language from Stockholm was repeated in U. N. General Assembly Resolution 45/94, which stated that all individuals have a "fundamental right to freedom, equality and adequate conditions of life in an environment of a quality that permits a life of dignity and well-being." G. A. Res. 45/94, ¶ 11, U. N. Doc. A/RES/45/94 (Dec. 14, 1990).
220. See, e.g., African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights art. 24, adopted June 27, 1981, 1520 U. N. T. S. 248 (providing that "all peoples shall have the right to a general satisfactory environment favorable to their development");
221. Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights in the Area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights art. 11, adopted Nov. 22, 1969, 1144 U. N. T. S 144 (recognizing the "right to live in a healthy environment" and demanding that states parties "promote the protection, preservation, and improvement of the environment");
222. Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters art. 1, adopted June 25, 1998, 2161 U. N. T. S. 447 (providing for the right of every person of present and future generations to live in an environment adequate to his or her health and well-being).
223. As the United States notes in its national submission, there is a lack of clarity as to the exact linguistic formulation for such a right, with the "right to live in a safe, secure and sustainable environment," the "right to a safe and sustainable environment," the "right to an environment capable of supporting human society" being some of the common variations. This is also, as the United States further notes, one of the concept's weaknesses. U. S. OHCHR Report Submission, supra note 34, ¶¶ 11-12.
224. See U. N. Convention on the Rights of the Child art. 24 (2), adopted Nov. 20, 1989, 1577 U. N. T. S. 3 (on the right to the highest attainable standard of health requires state parties to consider "the dangers and risks of environmental pollution" and ensure that all segments of society have access to information and education with regard to, inter alia, hygiene and environmental sanitation);
225. Id. art. 29 (e) (includes "the development of respect for the natural environment" among the goals of educational programs).
226. See Convention Concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries art. 4, 7 (3) - (4), adopted June 27, 1989, 28 I. L. M. 1382.
227. Wani said: For example, in relation to the pollution of water sources; protection of indigenous peoples' natural resources; environmental policies and their specific impact on the enjoyment of human rights; environmental degradation; natural disasters; the impact of large infrastructure development projects on the environment; environmental hazards affecting specific groups or minorities; and the dumping of toxic waste and its impact on the enjoyment of human rights.
228. Wani, supra note 63, at 6.
229. Wani also noted: The former Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants identified environmental degradation among the reasons why people leave their countries; the former Independent Expert on human rights and extreme poverty stressed the links between poverty and environmental degradation; the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing underlined that housing cannot be separated from other issues related notably to a safe and healthy environment; the Representative of the Secretary General on the human rights of internally displaced persons highlighted that natural disasters are among the leading causes of internal displacement; the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on human rights defenders included environmental activists in the group of civil society actors that are particularly exposed to violence and other violations of their rights; the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the adverse effects of the illicit movement and dumping of toxic and dangerous products and wastes on the enjoyment of human rights has, since its creation, highlighted how international movements of waste can have negative effects on the enjoyment of several human rights, including the right to life, health, adequate food, health [sic], freedom of association or the right to form and join trade unions.
230. Id. at 7.
231. These rights include the right to seek information and minority rights. See Stefano Sensi, Human Rights and the Environment: A Practical Guide for Environmental Activists (unpublished paper) (on file with Harvard Environmental Law Review).
232. Maldives OHCHR Report Submission, supra note 45, at 13 (quoting Case Concerning the Gabcikovo-Nagymaros Project (Hung. v. Slovk.), 1997 I. C. J. 7 (Sept. 25)).
233. For example, "the U. N. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights - which monitors the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) by State Parties - has attempted to address this gap by interpreting the right to health, enshrined in this International Covenant, as encompassing the underlying determinants of health, such as healthy environmental conditions." Wani, supra note 63, at 5-6.
234. Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, President of the Maldives, Keynote Address at the Opening of the Small Island States Conference on the Human Dimension of Climate Change in Mate (Nov. 13, 2007), available at http://www.maldivesmission.ch/ fileadmin/Pdf/Environment/Speech by-President-on-Human-Dimension-of Climate-Change.pdf
235. G. A. Res. 45/94, supra note 159, ¶ 4.
236. U. N. Comm'n on Human Rights, Human Rights Res. 2005/60, U. N. Doc. E/CN.4/RES/2005/60 (Apr. 20, 2005).
237. The difficulties of establishing such a right are well-documented: [W]hat is the content of this right and how would it be defined? What is the threshold quality of environment for purposes of human rights? Who are the holders of this right: is it a collective right or an individual right? Does it cover future generations? Who is the duty bearer responsible for promoting, providing for and protecting this right? More specifically, what responsibility would it impose on states? What would be the extra-territorial obligations created by such a right? What would be the added value, in term of protection, of such a right? While a right to an environment of a certain quality would certainly have rhetorical force, some have argued that in reality it would add little to what already exists in international environmental law.
238. Wani, supra note 63, at 10-11;
239. see also Alan E. Boyle, The Role of International Human Rights Law in the Protection of the Environment, in Human Rights Approaches to Environmental Protection 43 (Alan E. Boyle & Michael R. Anderson eds., 1996).
240. Such a debate could complement current work in this area being conducted in the context of the draft Fourth Programme for the Development of the Periodic Review of Environmental Law ("Montevideo Programme IV"). See U. N. Env't Programme, Report of the Meeting of Senior Government Officials Expert in Environmental Law to Prepare a Fourth Programme for the Development and Periodic Review of Environmental Law (Montevideo Programme IV), at 25, U. N. Doc. UNEP/Env. Law/MTV4/IG/2/2 (Oct. 28, 2008), available at http://www.unep.org/law/ PDF/MontevideoIV/Meeting-Report-MontevideolV.pdf
241. U. S. OHCHR Report Submission, supra note 34, ¶ 26.
242. The Inuit Petition to Inter-American Commission on Human Rights "sought to hold one State responsible for activities undertaken in several countries, applying both criminal law principles of joint liability and, more innovatively, the UNFCCC's own principle of 'common but differentiated responsibilities.'" Climate Change and Human Rights, supra note 4, at 42. Although the Commission ultimately did not find the case admissible, during a subsequent public hearing on the matter (Mar. 1, 2007), the Commissioners did ask how one state could be held liable for actions also conducted in numerous other states. Martin Wagner (Earthjustice), counselor for the petitioners, contended that each state is responsible separately as well as jointly.
243. Id. IHCRP has noted that: It is common in environmental litigation, where there are numerous polluters, for a court to shift the burden of proof and hold the defendant liable unless he or she can mitigate responsibility by proving the proportional liability of other wrongdoers. Under theories of joint and several liability, each wrongdoer is held responsible for the entire harm in some circumstances. Such doctrines serve to deter pollution by all and ensure greater likelihood of redress for victims.
244. Id. at 43.
245. Id. at 64.
246. Vito De Lucia, Common But Differentiated Responsibility, in Encyclopedia of Earth (Jan. 28, 2007) (on file with Harvard Environmental Law Review).
247. U. N. Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, Braz., June 3-14, 1992, Report of the U. N. Conference on Environment and Development Volume I: Resolutions Adopted by the Conference, at 4, U. N. Doc. A/CONF.151/26 (Jan. 1, 1993).
248. De Lucia, supra note 177.
249. UNFCCC, supra note 3, pmbl.
250. Kyoto Protocol to the UNFCCC, adopted Dec. 11, 1997, 2303 U. N. T. S. 148.
251. The Inuit Petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights argued that governments and private actors have, at a minimum, a negative obligation to desist from harmful actions that lead to social and economic rights violations. Inuit Petition, supra note 8, at 70.
252. Shaheed, supra note 156, at 7.
253. Submission of Mali to OHCHR Study, Human Rights and Climate Change (Sept. 2008), available at http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/climatechange/docs/ Mali.pdf