Climate change adaptation is no longer a choice. It is a necessity to save lives, enhance resilience – and protect human rights. Countries must therefore ensure that adaptation is a part of their response to climate change, alongside climate mitigation measures. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned, in its latest report, that the adverse effects of climate change are hitting us faster than anticipated. Some of the changes in our climate have become “irreversible”. The climate crisis has become one of the greatest human rights challenges of our time. It worsens inequalities, deepens precarity and threatens livelihoods and lives. Therefore, we must act now.
Join us at COP26
When: 4 November at 8:15 – 9:45 am GMT
Where: At the Nordic Pavilion, powered by Business Sweden
Read more [Nordic Pavillion at COP26, Glasgow]
Read about the activity: SCENARIO-BASED DISCUSSION ON CLIMATE DISPLACEMENT, PLANNED RELOCATION AND HUMAN RIGHTS
Climate change directly impacts human rights. Measures that we use to mitigate or adapt to climate change can also negatively impact human rights. Therefore it is key to use a rights-based approach not only to protect people, but also to make sure actions we undertake to respond to climate change, are undertaken in a way that safeguard human rights.
Besides the direct human rights impacts of climate change itself, measures designed to mitigate or adapt to climate change can also negatively impact human rights. Thus, it is essential to implement a rights-based approach not only to protect people, but also to ensure that actions designed to slow and respond to climate change, as well as to remedy its consequences, are undertaken in a way that safeguard and promote human rights.
Our workshop at COP26: Pathways to Just and Fair Adaptation: A Rights-Based Approach to Climate Action
We aim to stimulate and deepen discussions on climate change and human rights. We also wish to stimulate identifcation of potential initiatives related to human rights, climate change adaptation, and healthy ecosystems to ensure a just transition that protect rights of people – while building social-ecological resilience.
You can expect an interactive workhop. First, we will screen a short movie – “The Last Breath of Tonle Sap”. It depicts the adverse impacts of climate change and the construction of the hydroelectric dams on the Mekong. After the screening, we will reflect on issues related to the interlinkages between climate change and human rights.
Together, we will also undertake a “futuristic activity” and will ask you tto come up with solutions to various real-life climate scenarios in human rights terms. We believe that this will help connect the dots between human rights and climate change. The purpose is also to identify strategies and recommendations to advocate for at COP 26
Did you miss the event?
Check it out on YouTube
During the event we talked about what we talked not only about the effects of climate chang eoin human rights and how we need to undertake mitiagion measures. We talked about adaptation; some thing that more countries need to take into account.
Check out our Discussion Brief: Pathways for Just and Fair Adaptation: A Rights-Based Approach to National Adaptation Plans by Victor Bernard, Albert Salamanca and Nicole Anschell.
Connecting the Dots Between Climate Change and Human Rights