A/HRC/32/24
such as daily cooking. Use of these energy sources, which caused heavy indoor air
pollution, was associated with more than 3.5 million deaths each year.
13.
The Director-General argued that the Paris agreement, with its central focus on
human rights, was a step forward; however, it remained largely voluntary and subject to
interpretation. What was needed now was an agenda for action that doubled as a resultsbased framework for accountability. In this regard, WHO and the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change would jointly produce climate and health
profiles with a focus on the health risks and opportunities for the most vulnerable
populations in individual countries, and tracking data on the health impacts of intended
nationally determined contributions. She concluded that urgent action was needed because
a ruined planet cannot sustain human lives in good health.
III. Summary of the panel discussion
14.
Opening the panel as moderator, the Permanent Representative of Viet Nam said
that climate change affected the social and environmental determinants of health. The Paris
Agreement was not only a climate treaty but a public health treaty in which the right to
health was essential. The panel discussion was to address and establish a deeper
understanding of the impact of climate change on the right to health in order to facilitate
appropriate climate action. States and other discussants needed to identify priorities to
further integrate human rights, especially the right to health, in efforts to implement the
Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Viet Nam was one of
the five most vulnerable countries to climate change. By the end of the twenty-first century,
it was predicted that its temperature would increase by up to three degrees and that sea
levels would rise by one metre, threatening coastal and riverine areas, particularly the
Mekong delta, and directly impacting 10 to 12 per cent of the population of the country.
This also posed a serious threat to the enjoyment of the right to health beyond the borders
of Viet Nam, which was the second largest rice exporter in the world.
A.
Contributions of panellists
15.
The Special Rapporteur stated that, with the adoption of the Paris Agreement, the
States parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change had
responded to the calls for a robust reference to human rights in climate policy. The right to
health was an inclusive right, extending not only to timely and appropriate health care, but
also to the underlying determinants of health, such as access to quality food, potable water,
adequate sanitation, healthy occupational and environmental conditions and access to
health-related education and information. States had an obligation to provide adequate
health services necessary for the realization of the highest attainable standards of health,
including non-discriminatory access to a system of protection, prevention, treatment and
control of diseases. Enjoyment of the right to health required equitable distribution of
health facilities, goods and services and the meaningful participation of affected
populations in health-related decisions that affect them.
16.
The Special Rapporteur emphasized that the effects of climate change on the full
enjoyment of the right to health were alarming, having increased the causes of morbidity
and mortality and negatively affected human dignity and security. The human and
environmental impacts of climate change included loss of land and housing, diminished
quantity and quality of food production, food insecurity and malnutrition and forced
displacement. In this context, violence was a major public health concern, including
collective violence, which was often linked to displacement and forced migration. Climate
change also perpetuated existing inequalities, with those in vulnerable situations, the poor
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