File photo used for representation
The International Conference on Climate Change and Human Rights concluded yesterday in Doha with a unified call for rights-based climate action. The conference also decided to establish a committee to follow up on its recommendations and develop a five-year implementation plan, the Secretary General of the NHRC, Sultan bin Hassan Al Jamali disclosed.
Speaking to the audience while announcing the recommendations, Al Jamali said, “This committee, made up of the conference organisers and their designees, will begin its operations in 2023 and will work with governments, regional actors and relevant stakeholders to advance rights-based climate action in line with the conference recommendations.”
Al Jamali said the conference was significant at this time because states, NHRIs and organisations must work together to implement policies that support climate-based rights, especially in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
He noted that the general recommendations of the conference stress that human rights law, principles and standards should be the cornerstone of the government’s climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts to limit loss and damage.
“The conference decided to explore opportunities to present the outcomes at the 53rd session of the Human Rights Council and the 58th meeting of the subsidiary bodies of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and to consider organising future meetings on this topic, including facilitating the exchange of good practices for rights-based climate action,” he said.
Al Jamali also disclosed that the conference recommends an increased ambition to rapidly mitigate pollution by reducing emissions to curb climate change effects to the minimum -- no more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
According to Al Jamali, the conference proposed that decisions should be guided by the best available science, including the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, to ensure that all climate actions that have an impact on the rights of indigenous peoples are implemented with their free, prior and informed consent, and provide education with respect for nature for all, and empower people, including children and youth to be factors of change.
The conference also recommended that the Arab Network for National Human Rights Institutions works to promote and support the capacity building of stakeholders and members in partnership with regional and international actors, including the League of Arab States.
It stressed integrating human rights, including the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, into the climate negotiation outcomes of the UNFCCC and regional, national and local climate management. The recommendation also noted the need to promote environmental justice, particularly for disproportionately affected persons and groups, including strengthening judicial and legal systems and frameworks.
Other recommendations include the promotion of international cooperation, support for improved access to climate finance for people, groups and people in vulnerable situations, develop robust accountability frameworks for the impacts of climate change on human rights, ensuring the free, meaningful, effective and informed participation of all people, particularly those most affected by climate change in climate decision-making, ensure that efforts to address climate change respect, protect and implement human rights are the result of participatory, and informed processes, and integrating women’s rights and gender equality into climate action.
Besides the conference also made several recommendations to NHRIs, the UN which it urged to support member states to advance right-based climate action at all levels, and enhance policy coherence and coordination between human rights mechanisms and climate decision-making.
To businesses, the meet proposed support for transition to green economy, refrain from influencing climate action resulting in delays, investing in sustainable technologies across all geography and supporting a legal and institutional framework that upholds human rights in a healthy environment. A proposal to civil society encouraged them to advocate for rights-based climate action, engage with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the UNFCCC Global Assessment to support evidence-based actions.
The two-day saw several sessions and working groups with over 250 participants, including policymakers, academics, lawyers, human rights and climate experts, and ministries related to climate change.
The conference was hosted by the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) in partnership with the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change in Qatar, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the League of Arab States, and the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI).
