A/HRC/33/31
To mobilize maximum available resources for sustainable, human rights-based
development
5.
Under core human rights treaties, States acting individually and collectively are
obligated to mobilize and allocate the maximum available resources for the progressive
realization of economic, social and cultural rights, as well as for the advancement of civil
and political rights and the right to development. The failure to adopt reasonable measures
to mobilize available resources to prevent foreseeable human rights harms caused by
climate change breaches this obligation. The mobilization of resources to address climate
change should complement and not compromise other efforts of Governments to pursue the
full realization of all human rights for all, including the right to development. Innovative
measures such as carbon taxes, with appropriate safeguards to minimize negative impacts
on the poor, can be designed to internalize environmental externalities and mobilize
additional resources to finance mitigation and adaptation efforts that benefit the poorest and
most marginalized.
International cooperation
6.
The Charter of the United Nations, the International Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights and other human rights instruments impose upon States the duty to
cooperate to ensure the realization of all human rights. Climate change is a human rights
threat with causes and consequences that cross borders; thus, it requires a global response,
underpinned by international solidarity. States should share resources, knowledge and
technology in order to address climate change. International assistance for climate change
mitigation and adaptation should be additional to existing official development assistance
commitments. Pursuant to relevant human rights principles, climate assistance should be
adequate, effective and transparent, it should be administered through participatory,
accountable and non-discriminatory processes, and it should be targeted toward persons,
groups, and peoples most in need. States should engage in cooperative efforts to respond to
climate-related displacement and migration and to address climate-related conflicts and
security risks.
To ensure equity in climate action
7.
The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, the Vienna Declaration and
Programme of Action and The Future We Want all call for the right to development, which
is articulated in the Declaration on the Right to Development, to be fulfilled so as to meet
equitably the developmental and environmental needs of present and future generations.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change calls for States to protect
future generations and to take action on climate change “on the basis of equity and in
accordance with their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective
capabilities”. While climate change affects people everywhere, those who have contributed
the least to greenhouse gas emissions (i.e. the poor, children and future generations) are
those most affected. Equity in climate action requires that efforts to mitigate and adapt to
the impacts of climate change should benefit people in developing countries, indigenous
peoples, people in vulnerable situations and future generations.
To guarantee that everyone enjoys the benefits of science and its applications
8.
The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights states that
everyone has the right to enjoy the benefits of science and its applications. All States should
actively support the development and dissemination of new climate mitigation and
adaptation technologies including technologies for sustainable production and consumption.
Environmentally clean and sound technologies should be accessibly priced, the cost of their
development should be equitably shared, and their benefits should be fairly distributed
between and within countries. Technology transfers between States should take place as
needed and appropriate to ensure a just, comprehensive and effective international response
17
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents