ABSTRACT
In her biography, Everybody Matters: My Life Giving Voice, Mary Robinson explained how she became interested in the topic of human rights and climate change, after hearing testimony from African farmers, with Archbishop Desmond Tutu. 1 She recalled hearing stories of how drought and flash flooding had ruined the lives of the farmers. After such experiences, Mary Robinson considered the importance of examining climate change as a question of justice and human rights. She observed that 'these communities are not responsible for the emissions causing climate change, and yet they are disproportionately affected because of their already vulnerable geographic locations and their lack of climate resilience'. 2 She commented that there were larger questions involved in terms of climate justice: 'It isn't just governments that are causing greenhouse emissions, it is us, the people ... We have to change our lifestyles, wean ourselves off bad habits of consumption.' 3 Robinson observed that there were questions of inter-generational and intra-generational justice: "This public dialogue about climate and the environment is challenging both old and young to think deeply about how we will forge an equitable sustainable future, one that safeguards our planet and is fair to a population predicted to rise to nine billion or more by 2050, the increase coming mainly from those large countries, with emerging economies, such as China. Brazil, and Nigeria'. 4 Robinson suggested that there was a need to reconceptualize climate change: 'As well as the now-iconic image of a polar bear drifting on a melting ice floe, we need the face of a poor subsistence farmer or indigenous woman, a face full of worry because her livelihood and way of life are being destroyed by climate change.' 5
