A/HRC/32/23 I. Introduction 1. The present study is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 29/15, in which the Council requested the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to conduct a detailed analytical study, in consultation with relevant stakeholders, on the relationship between climate change and the human right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. 2. On 21 August 2015, OHCHR circulated a note verbale and questionnaire to Member States requesting inputs for the study. Communications were also sent to other stakeholders, including civil society organizations, international organizations and national human rights institutions. These inputs were summarized in a conference room paper 1 prepared by OHCHR in advance of the Human Rights Council panel discussion on climate change and the right to health which was held on 3 March 2016.2 The panel discussion, the above-mentioned written submissions and independent research have informed the study. 3. In the present study, OHCHR examines the impacts of climate change on human rights, particularly the right to health, related human rights obligations and responsibilities of States and other actors, and the elements and benefits of a rights-based approach to addressing the impacts of climate change on human health. It concludes with concrete recommendations for fulfilling human rights obligations, particularly those relating to health, in the context of climate change. II. Impacts of climate change on enjoyment of the right to health 4. All human rights are universal, inalienable, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated. In the context of the right to health, these characteristics are eminently clear. Enjoyment of the right to health is contingent upon the availability of, inter alia, good quality health services, safe working conditions, adequate housing, food, water and sanitation, a healthy environment, and education, all on the basis of non-discrimination, as well as broad stakeholder participation in health policy formulation and implementation.3 Climate change is real, human-made greenhouse gas emissions are its primary cause, and it contributes, among other things, to the increasing frequency of extreme weather events and natural disasters, rising sea levels, floods, heatwaves, drought and the spread of tropical and vector-borne diseases.4 These extremes alter ecosystems, disrupt food production and water supply, damage infrastructure and settlements and increase morbidity and mortality. They are also responsible for the displacement of affected communities, among whom an important consequence is an increased incidence of poor mental and physical health. Thus, climate change directly and indirectly threatens the full and effective enjoyment of a range of human rights, including the rights to life, water and sanitation, food, health, housing, self-determination, culture and development. 1 2 3 4 The questionnaire, the original inputs received and their summary are available from www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/HRAndClimateChange/Pages/StudyImpact.aspx. In the present study, references to stakeholder inputs will be to “(Stakeholder name) input”. The summary report of the panel is contained in A/HRC/32/24. Full statements are available from www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/HRAndClimateChange/Pages/StudyImpact.aspx. In paragraph 3 of its general comment 14 (2000) on the right to the highest attainable standard of health, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights states that the right to health is closely related to and dependent upon the realization of other human rights. See Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report. 3