Mar 06 2015
Past event

Climate Change and Human Rights: the way forward in the Human Rights Council

The Universal Rights Group, with the Geneva Climate Change Concertation Group (GeCCco), the Geneva Interfaith Forum on Climate Change and Human Rights (GIF), and further NGOs concerned about the impact of climate change on human rights, cordially invite you to a side event to the 28th session of the HRC.

While the direct impact of climate change on human rights is obvious, so are the potentially negative impacts of mitigation and adaptation measures directly planned and designed in response to climate change. However, safeguards within the UNFCCC system to sufficiently protect those who are most vulnerable remain underdeveloped.

Within the Human Rights Council (HRC), various debates revolve around the following issues: Where are the lines between moral and legal obligations? How can the Common but Differential Responsibility be interpreted in line with universal Human Rights obligations? One mechanism to address these questions could be the creation of a new Special Procedure mandate on climate change and human rights, which many NGOs lobby for. This side event will provide a space to explore this approach and other areas of action for the HRC.

Speakers

Opening remarks by HRC President, AMBASSADOR JOACHIM RÜCKER (tbc)

PELENISE ALOFA, National Coordinator, Kiribati Climate Action Network and Coordinator, EU Global Climate Change Alliance (University of the South Pacific)

ANDREA RODRÍGUEZ OSUNA, legal advisor for the Climate Change Program, AIDA, Mexico

VALERIANE BERNARD, Brahma Kumaris

RICHARD PEARSHOUSE, Human Rights Watch

NICO SCHRIJVER, Member of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and Professor of Public International Law, Leiden University

Moderator

FELIX KIRCHMEIER, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Geneva

NB: valid UN accreditation for the HRC session is needed to attend the event. Please notify the organizers should you need accreditation to access the Palais des Nations via [email protected].

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