HRW Day 7: Climate Change and Human Rights (Report)

Climate Change and Human Rights
Discussion

Discussion: Climate Change and Human Rights

Date: 16 January 2020

Time: 5-6:30pm

Moderator: Keisha Singh and Samiksha Baikar

"When we speak only of Climate Change, there is a perception of our desire to secure the comforts of our lifestyle. But when we speak of Climate Justice, we demonstrate our sensitivity and resolve to secure the future of the poor from the perils of natural disasters."

~ Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi 

Goal 13 of United Nation's Sustainable Development Goal is 'Climate Action'. Climate Change has affected all countries, including humans and non humans.

On International Human Rights Day ( 10 December 2020 ), PSA had released a statement addressing Climate Change which affects one's life, livelihood, happiness and the survival of the country.

A lot of international treaties and conferences like the Paris Agreement, Kyoto protocol and  UN Climate Change Conference (UNCCC) are in place to combat the Climate Change issue. 

The Paris Agreement was a legally binding international treaty on Climate Change adopted by 196 parties at COP 21 in Paris on 12 December 2015. Its long term goal is to reduce global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible to achieve a climate-neutral world.

Kyoto protocol was signed in Japan on 11 December 1997. The main aim is to prevent dangerous anthropogenic activities in reference to climate change like controlling the emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6).

The United Nations Climate Change Conferences are yearly conferences held in the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. 

Many Pacific countries like Fiji and Tuvalu face the threat of submersion by the end of the 21st century due to rising sea levels as a result of Climate Change. It not only threatens the livelihood but also one's tradition, indigenous communities and in return the extinction of a country.

Let us look at an example on how climate change caused the locust outbreak? 

The 2°Celsius rise in temperature in 2018 created a stronger Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), which means a steeper temperature gradient was created between Africa and Australia, meaning stronger rains and cyclones are most likely to form, in the East. This lead to unexpected torrential rains over all of East Africa and Middle East. This created lakes all over the deserts of Oman. Locust eggs that had sat dormant for 10-20 years suddenly came to life. And locust swarms caused a lot of disturbance. 

Climate Change has always affected the homeless,  the disadvantaged, and group of people who are not well equipped to alone bring a change. Lack of equality is a major contributor. 

United States of America, China, France and the European countries are one of the major contributors to climate change and global warming. They are also one of the richest countries in the world. They have been prioritising their economies over protecting the environment.

Individual movement does help in creating awareness but efforts taken by individuals won't equate to the efforts taken by the Multi-National Companies (MNCs) and over time these movements also die down. For example: The save the turtle movement popular on Instagram. 

The government or/and the MNCs are not the only ones to be blamed for the violation of Human Rights. The person or organization or institution which violates Human Rights should be responsible.

It is the choices made by MNCs. For example, Starbucks, can provide all its customers with paper straws or even metal straws for sustainable development instead of providing plastic ones.

There should be Special Green Zones to promote sustainable development. Renewable energy resources should be extensively used. Vertical gardens should be promoted, but they also have a few pros and cons. Pros include - they maintain the greenery and produce oxygen but they do not add to groundwater level and also do not prevent soil erosion.

Climate change not only depletes human rights, it affects animals too. The animal industry is also one of the major contributors to global warming and a threat to the climate.

Animals have been used like cash economies. The animals at dairy and animal husbandry farms have been exploited a lot. They have been artificially inseminated to increase production and when they stop reproduction they are sent off to butchers. We as consumers have a huge role in promotion of violation of non-human rights. The people involved in animal husbandry are also poor and their main aim is to earn a livelihood. If they shut down their business, do they have anything else to do? For example, due to Bird Flu, a lot of poultry farms have been affected. The rights of these people have also been violated. A balance should be created between animal rights and humans rights.

It is also the citizens duty to elect representatives who will protect, preserve and conserve the Climate and take actions and measures for it. Stronger laws and their implementation should be the priority!

A few solutions to combat Climate Change are:

- Prevention of potential violation of rights by third parties, especially businesses.

- Establishment, implementation and enforcement of laws, policies and programmes should be done to fulfil their citizens’ rights.

- Wealthy states should contribute their fair share towards the cost of mitigation and adaptation in low-income countries—as countries are not equally responsible—nor affected—by the climate crisis.

- Corporations should comply with the Guiding Principles on business and Human Rights as they pertain to human rights and Climate Change. Businesses should adopt human rights policies, conduct human rights with due diligence, remedy human rights violations for which they are directly responsible and work to influence other actors to respect human rights.

- Using public transport, afforestation, switching off electricity when not in use or changing our food behaviour can be used on a day to day basis.

'Reduce, Reuse, Recycle' is the theme to protect our Climate.

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Report drafted by PSA's Treasurer Keisha Singh from FYBA and PSA's PR and Social Media person Samiksha Baikar from TYBA Political Science.