"Roundtable Summary - Human Rights & Climate Change: Connecting the Dots," 2 Sep 2016

In June 2016, Unicef UK and UCL’s Global Governance Institute convened a roundtable of international experts, drawn from various disciplines, to discuss how human rights apply in the context of climate change, the growing role of climate change litigation and concrete policy recommendations for next steps. This report serves as a summary of the event’s discussions…It is by now beyond doubt that climate change adversely affects a broad range of human rights that are recognised and protected under international law…[T]he Paris Agreement represents a decisive step forward. Following significant mobilisation by civil society for recognition of the human rights dimensions of climate change, the Agreement contains what has been described by the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment, John Knox, as “the strongest language on human rights of any global environmental treaty”…This landmark achievement, secured in the face of significant opposition, is to be celebrated. Yet much work lies ahead to translate these words into action…