"Human rights focus can strengthen Paris climate deal", say Mary Robinson & other experts
Climate change may constitute the most serious challenge to the fulfillment of human rights in our world today.
Eight years of Human Rights Council work on climate issues and a string of dedicated resolutions have established the clear recognition that changes in the climate do undermine a range of internationally-protected human rights...Human rights known to be undermined by the effects of climate change include access to water, rights to food, to health, to housing, and to a healthy environment, and even the to self-determination and to life...Any new agreement should of course uphold human rights–which is no small feat. Increasing numbers of states also see human rights as a means of improving the design and implementation of policies that will enable the Paris deal’s effective realization.