Human Rights in the Paris Agreement

Abstract

Climate change is one of the most urgent environmental problems of the 21st century and one of the major challenges facing the international community as the greatest threat to human rights. The Paris Agreement, adopted in December 2015, is the most important result of efforts to address the challenge. The Paris Agreement is the first climate change treaty to include a reference to human rights and, moreover, the first multilateral environmental agreement(MEA) that explicitly mentions human rights. The Paris Agreement, of course, is not a human rights treaty in the general sense. The Paris Agreement does not include provisions on human rights in its operative provisions, but refers to human rights only in the Preamble. The Paris Agreement, in its preamble, recognizes that “climate change is a common concern of humankind,” and “Parties should, when taking action to address climate change, respect, promote and consider their respective obligations on human rights.” The Paris Convention was the first international environmental agreement to recognize that human rights obligations are an integral part of the United Nations climate system. The explicit mention of human rights in the Paris Agreement is a decade-long advocacy of the international community that has raised awareness about the adverse impacts of human rights on climate change and the human rights of actions to respond to climate change. The Paris Agreement, however, does not specifically state human rights obligations of States Parties, and their role in respecting, promoting, protecting and realizing human rights in action to address climate change is very limited. Nevertheless, by referring to human rights, the Paris Agreement will also contribute to the advancement of political narratives that justify climate action. This article first examines the Cancun Agreement and subsequent human rights discussions. secondly, It analyzes the content and legal implications of the human rights-related provisions included in the Paris Agreement adopted by the 21st Conference of the Parties(COP21) to the UN Climate Change Convention held in Paris in December 2015. Finally, I will examine and assess the importance of a human rights approach in the implementation of the Paris Convention