Human Rights and Climate Change

A/HRC/RES/53/6View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the Human Rights Council, under agenda item 3Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, published in 2023.

What other versions does this mandate have?

15 versions · 2008–2025

This is an older version — the most recent is A/HRC/RES/59/25

2025A/HRC/RES/59/25Human rights and climate changeLatestCompare with previous version
2024A/HRC/RES/56/8Human rights and climate changeCompare with previous version
2023A/HRC/RES/53/6Human rights and climate changeCompare with previous version
2022A/HRC/RES/50/9Human rights and climate changeCompare with previous version
2021A/HRC/RES/47/24Human rights and climate changeCompare with previous version

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

What subjects does this mandate have?

6 topics

Climate Change Climate Change Adaptation Climate Change Mitigation Disaster Loss Human Rights Resilience

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

1 report of the Secretary-General submitted under this mandate, 2024.

2024A/HRC/57/30Analytical study on the impact of loss and damage from the adverse effects of climate change on the full enjoyment of human rights, exploring equity-based approaches and solutions to addressing the same report of the Secretary-General

Identified automatically from the metadata in each report’s UN Digital Library catalogue record.

What does this mandate say?

20 operative paragraphs

Expresses grave concern that climate change has contributed and continues to contribute to the increased frequency and intensity of both sudden-onset natural disasters and slow-onset events, and that these adversely affect the full enjoyment of all human rights;

Emphasizes the importance of continuing to address urgently, as they relate to States’ human rights obligations, climate change and its adverse consequences for all, particularly in developing countries and for the people whose situation is most vulnerable to climate change;

Calls upon States to consider, among other aspects, human rights within the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change;

Urges States that have not yet ratified or acceded to the Paris Agreement to do so;

Recognizes the importance for all countries of averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change, including extreme weather events and slow-onset events, and the role of sustainable development in reducing the risk of loss and damage, and in that regard looks forward to the further operationalization of the Santiago Network for averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change, and encourages the Parties to constructively engage in the Glasgow Dialogue and to support the work of the Transitional Committee to operationalize expeditiously the new funding arrangements, including a fund for assisting developing countries, including those that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change, in responding to loss and damage associated with the adverse impacts of climate change, in the context of relevant decisions of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement;

Calls for deep and rapid cuts in global emissions to avert, minimize and address loss and damage from sudden and slow-onset climate events that have an adverse impact on the enjoyment of human rights;

Calls upon States to enhance international cooperation and reiterates the urgency of scaling up action, in particular in financing, the transfer of technology and capacity-building, for mitigation and adaptation measures and to assist developing countries in averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage, especially those that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change;

Calls upon all States to adopt a country-driven, comprehensive, integrated, gender-responsive, age-inclusive and disability-inclusive approach to climate change adaptation and mitigation policies, consistent with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the objective and principles thereof, to address efficiently the economic, cultural and social impact and human rights challenges that climate change presents, for the full and effective enjoyment of human rights for all;

Calls upon States to better promote the human rights of persons in vulnerable situations, their inclusion in risk reduction decision-making and their access to livelihoods, food and nutrition, safe drinking water and sanitation, social protection, health-care services and medicines, education and training, adequate housing and decent work, clean and low-emission energy, science and technology, including digital technology and early warning systems, and ensure that services can be adapted to emergency and humanitarian contexts;

Urges States to develop and effectively implement policies that promote sustainable agriculture, forest management, fisheries, aquaculture practices and marine environment management in order to enhance the adaptive capacities and livelihood resilience of communities for the full and effective enjoyment of human rights;

Recognizes the link between the adverse impacts of climate change, including on livelihoods, and displacement and migration, and the need for adaptation measures that benefit the most vulnerable, facilitate safe and voluntary movement, minimize forced movement and address human rights protection gaps in order to, inter alia, reduce the risk of trafficking and exploitation of people on the move, especially women and girls;

Urges States, consistent with the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, to uphold the principle of corporate responsibility to respect human rights, including the responsibility to avoid causing or contributing to adverse human rights impacts through business activities that may harm the environment and the climate system;

Calls upon business enterprises, both transnational and others, to meet their responsibility to respect human rights, including in the context of climate change and the environment;

Reaffirms its commitment to advocate for combating climate change and addressing its adverse impact on the full and effective enjoyment of human rights, and recognizes the importance of the safe and meaningful participation of civil society in climate action and the work of the Human Rights Council and its mechanisms in the context of climate change, conducted in a regular, systematic and transparent manner;

Recalls the decision to incorporate into its annual programme of work, beginning in 2023, at a minimum a panel discussion, and decides that the annual panel discussion to be held at the fifty-sixth session shall focus on ensuring livelihood resilience in the context of the risk of loss and damage relating to the adverse effects of climate change for achieving progressively the full realization of all human rights and ways forward to address the challenges thereto on the basis of equity and climate justice, and also decides that the panel discussion will have International Sign interpretation and captioning;

Requests the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to submit a summary report on the panel discussion held at the fifty-sixth session to the Human Rights Council at its fifty-eighth session, and to make the report available in accessible formats, including in easy-to-read versions;

Requests the Secretary-General, in consultation with and taking into account the views of States, the special procedures of the Human Rights Council, the United Nations Environment Programme, the World Meteorological Organization, the International Telecommunication Union, the International Organization for Migration, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and other relevant international organizations and intergovernmental bodies, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and other stakeholders, to conduct an analytical study on the impact of loss and damage from the adverse effects of climate change on the full enjoyment of human rights, exploring equity-based approaches and solutions to addressing the same, and to submit the study to the Human Rights Council at its fifty-seventh session, to be followed by an interactive dialogue, and also requests the Secretary-General to make the report available in accessible formats, including in easy-to-read versions;

Encourages relevant special procedure mandate holders to continue to consider the issue of climate change and human rights, including the adverse impact of climate change on the full and effective enjoyment of human rights, particularly the rights of persons in vulnerable situations, within their respective mandates;

Requests the Secretary-General and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to provide all the human, technical and financial assistance necessary for the effective and timely realization of the above-mentioned panel discussion, reports and interactive dialogue;

Decides to remain seized of the matter.

Paragraph content is machine-extracted from UN documents. For authoritative content, please refer to the official UN document.

No headings found in this document.

Who created this mandate?

What other versions does this mandate have?

What subjects does this mandate have?

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

What does this mandate say?

Table of contents