As United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres stated on 24 February 2020 before the Human Rights Council: ‘The climate crisis is the greatest threat to our survival as a species and is already threatening human rights around the world’.
In fact, both this UN body and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) often highlight some of the rights affected: the right to life, health, food, water and sanitation, adequate housing, self-determination and cultural rights. Among other data, according to World Health Organisation (WHO) projections, climate change could cause an additional 250,000 deaths per year between 2030 and 2050 from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhoea and heatstroke or heat stress alone. The figure will be even higher when other causes are taken into account. Promoting human rights and promoting the climate are two sides of the same coin.
However, we continue to see that, whether through omission or lack of action, the activities of some companies or corporations fall far short of responding decisively to the climate challenge and may even become a vector for human rights violations. In light of these facts, human rights have become a very useful tool to use in the climate governance framework. All European states have a human rights protection system. It can be used to fill the accountability gap when corporate actors fail to deliver on their emission reduction promises, if there is a lack of specific accountability rules.
But beyond this, we are also interested in knowing what companies can do proactively to be not only champions of the climate but also champions of human rights. From a cross-sectoral perspective, companies can play a fundamental role in climate action and thus in Human Rights.
Objectives
- To link better human rights and climate action, and the role of companies and corporations.
- To know more about the trend towards using human rights arguments and remedies in the courts to advance climate action.
- To know what companies can do proactively to be not only champions of the climate but also champions of human rights.
Moderator
Paula Valdelvira Pumarino. Youth Delegate, Generación Clima COP30.
Speakers
- José Gudiño. Member of the Coordinating Committee of the Latin American and Caribbean Indigenous Youth Network and Coordinator of Environment, Territory and Climate Change for the Amazon Indigenous Adolescents and Youth Network (RAJIA).
- Paulien Denis, Global Climate Coordinator at Proforest.
- Samuel Martín-Sosa. Head of Network / Climate Action Network (CAN).
- Haley St. Dennis. Head of Just Transitions / Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB)