ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses the relationship between climate change and human rights within a framework of justice. Climate change is a global problem, requiring a global solution. It is the cumulative impact of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by each and every state in the international community that is responsible for the phenomenon. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) identifies the main consequences of climate change: contraction of snow-covered areas; sea-level rise and higher thermal temperatures; increase in extreme weather events including droughts, heat waves and floods, and increase in tropical cyclones. Environmental justice can provide a useful framework to deal with environmental disputes that disadvantage a particular group or disproportionately affect a particular group that has been historically marginalized, especially ethnic or racial minorities, women or indigenous groups. Climate justice can be applied in relation to both vulnerable communities within states and vulnerable states themselves.