ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book suggests that several key topics of interest for scholars and practitioners committed to studying or enhancing the protection of human rights in the context of a changing climate. In the 1990s, the negotiations for the operationalisation of the Kyoto Protocol provided the context for the consideration of a dimension of the interlinkages between climate governance and human rights. The emergence of human rights in the field of climate change is the result of international negotiations and advocacy efforts that extend back to the very origins of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Thinking about the human rights implications of climate actions also raises important issues of climate justice focusing on the potential for the global response to climate change to result in the inequitable distribution of burdens and the further marginalisation of certain communities.
