Human Rights and Climate Change : A
Review of the International Legal Dimensions

The study includes a conceptual overview
of the link between climate impacts and human rights,
focused on the relevant legal obligations underpinning the
international law frameworks governing both human rights and
climate change. As such it makes a significant contribution
to the global debate on climate change and human rights by
offering a comprehensive analysis of the international legal
dimensions of this intersection. The study helps advance an
understanding of what is meant, in legal and policy terms,
by the human rights impacts of climate change through
examples of specific substantive rights. It gives a legal
and theoretic perspective on the connection between human
rights and climate change along three dimensions: first,
human rights may affect the enjoyment of human rights.
Second, measures to address human rights may impact the
realization of rights and third, that human rights have
potential relevance to policy and operational responses to
climate change, and may promote resilience to climate
change, including in developing countries in a way that may
help sustainable development. This study effectively
consolidates knowledge from the fields of international
human rights law, international law governing climate change
and international environmental law, building on the
existing work of the United Nation (UN) office of the high
commissioner on human rights, the UN human rights council
and the international council on human rights policy.
Although it maintains a legal focus, the study has benefited
from the input of a host of international experts from other
disciplines as well.