10 December 2015: Marking Human Rights Day, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) launched a report on the human rights implications of climate change, calling for the expected outcome of the Paris Climate Change Conference to refer to these human rights impacts, and for climate funds to include social safeguards.

UNEP and the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School collaborated on the report, which details the human rights implications of climate change, as well as the human rights effects of mitigation and adaptation strategies. The authors discuss the progressively greater recognition of human rights obligations in relation to the environment and climate change, covering obligations of the private sector as well as governments. They also assess the extent of human rights safeguards in international climate finance mechanisms.

The report calls for the agreement at UNFCCC COP 21 to have ambitious mitigation targets and to recognize the link between climate change and human rights. They also call for: human rights safeguards to be included in international climate finance mechanisms; financial assistance to developing countries; international cooperation to address climate displacement and migration; and transparent discussion of loss and damage.

They propose establishing mechanisms for monitoring and accountability, such as: a specific work programme under the UNFCCC COP; an information sharing platform; evaluation of human rights performance in the context of climate-related actions taken by countries and private actors; and a continued focus on environmental protection and conservation. Other recommendations address the possibilities for national governments, local governments and private actors to address the human rights implications of climate change. [Publication: Climate Change and Human Rights] [UNEP Press Release]