Are International Human Rights Instruments Effective In Protecting People’s Rights from the Global Effects of Climate Change?

Master's Thesis , 2017 , 43 Pages , Grade: A

Politics - Topic: Public International Law and Human Rights

This study seeks to address the issue of climate change through a human rights lens by focusing on the causes of climate change and its impacts on both the environment and human rights. It highlights the close link between capitalist industrialization and environmental degradation and explains how this consequently leads to human rights violations.
This research tackles human rights approach to climate change with a special focus on international human rights instruments mainly the two international covenants, the ICCPR and the ICESCR, it seeks to understand whether they impose international obligations on states to protect human rights from the adverse effects of climate change and how those imposed duties can be enforced to effectively protect people’s rights.
Unfortunately, this paper will reach to the conclusion that the existing human rights law does not adequately protect human rights from the lethal threat of climate change, due to the absence of a universally recognized right to a healthy environment, moreover, despite the possibility of the extraterritorial application of the ICESCR, the political will of states to cooperate under the provisions of the covenant to face the issue of climate change seems to be also absent.

Contents

Abstract

Contents

Introduction

Chapter One: Theoretical Framework of Climate Change
I- What is Climate Change: Causes and Consequences
A- Climate change defined
B- The Causes of Climate change
C- Consequences of Climate Change
II- Climate change and Capitalism

Chapter Two: Human Rights Implications of Climate Change
I-The Linkage between Climate Change and Human Rights
II-The Impact of Climate Change on Specific Rights
A- The Right to Life
B- The right to health
C- The right to food
D- The right to water and sanitation
E- The Right to Adequate housing
F- Right to Self-Determination

Chapter Three: International Human Rights Duties Regarding the Global Effects of Climate Change
I- International Human Rights Duties of States in the ICCPR
II- International Human Rights Duties in the ICESCR
A- Duties to respect
B- Duties to protect
C- Duties to fulfill

III- Practical Difficulties to the Application of Human Rights Duties Extraterritorially

Chapter Four: Additional Suggestions to the Human Rights Approach to the Global Impacts of Climate Change
I- Basing International Human Rights Law Approach on International Cooperation
II- The Creation of “A Right to a Healthy Environment” As a Human Right
III- Creation of an International Treaty relating to the status of environmental refugees

Conclusion

Bibliography

• College: Birkbeck, University of London
• Grade: A
• Author: Nouha Rouabah (Author)
• Publication Year: 2017
• Pages: 43
• Catalog Number: V385722
• ISBN (eBook): 9783668608320
• ISBN (Book): 9783668608337
• Language: English
• Tags: international, human, rights, instruments, effective, protecting, people’s, global, effects, climate, change