Human Rights and Climate Change

A/HRC/RES/59/25View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A document 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 2025.

What other versions does this mandate have?

15 versions · 2008–2025

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).

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

1 entity

Extracted automatically from each entity’s budget submission.

What subjects does this mandate have?

5 topics

Climate Change Climate Change Adaptation Climate Change Mitigation Financing Human Rights

What does this mandate say?

27 operative paragraphs

Expresses grave concern that climate change has contributed and continues to contribute to the increased frequency and intensity of both extreme weather events 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 and the Paris Agreement adopted under the Convention;

Encourages 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 full operationalization of the Santiago Network for averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change and the new funding arrangements, including the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage that was established at the twenty-seventh session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the fourth Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement, held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, for responding to loss and damage to assist developing countries 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 Convention 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 extreme weather and slow-onset climate events that have an adverse impact on the enjoyment of human rights;

Recognizes the importance of the first global stocktake, concluded at the twenty-eighth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, including decision 1/CMA.5, and calls upon countries to contribute to the global efforts as outlined in paragraph 28 (a) to (h) of that decision, in line with 1.5°C pathways and in a nationally determined manner, taking into account the Paris Agreement and their different national circumstances, pathways and approaches, and stresses the importance of reflecting equity and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities in the light of different national circumstances;

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

Urges States to take effective measures to fulfil at least the new collective quantified goal on climate finance, adopted at the twenty-ninth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, held in Baku, while making additional efforts to assist developing countries in their adaptation and mitigation initiatives, including in the pursuit of fair, equitable, inclusive and sustainable just transition pathways from a high-carbon economy to a low-carbon economy;

Calls upon all States to adopt a country-driven, people-centred, comprehensive, integrated, gender-responsive, age-inclusive and disability-inclusive approach to climate change adaptation and mitigation policies based on the best available science, consistent with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement adopted under the Convention 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, healthcare 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, in the light of the right of everyone to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications, and ensure that services can be adapted to emergency and humanitarian contexts;

Urges States to allocate adequate resources for comprehensive adaptation and risk reduction strategies, policies and planning to reduce exposure and vulnerability to climatic events and provide anticipatory support for displacement and integrating durable solutions from the early stages of extreme weather and slow-onset events to build resilience and to avert, minimize and address the losses caused by the adverse impacts of climate change;

Calls upon States and the international community, with developed countries taking the lead, to embark on actionable pathways to provide new, additional, quality, predictable, flexible and grants-based climate funding to developing countries, including dedicated assistance for debt-stressed countries, as progressive implementation of the obligations of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement;

Calls upon States and all relevant stakeholders, with developed countries taking the lead, to promote equitable access to finance and resources for enhancing the adaptive capacities of the most affected communities, in accordance with the principles of equity, climate justice and the right to development by delivering on climate finance commitments and supporting loss and damage mechanisms;

Encourages States, international financial institutions, multilateral development banks and other financial actors to explore effective fiscal space-related measures, including timely, highly concessional and low-cost financial resource mobilization schemes, fair debt relief through equitable debt restructuring and debt-for-development swaps;

Encourages States, development partners and international financial institutions to adopt simplified procedures for accessing the various climate funds for developing countries, including direct access arrangements for funding, with a focus on ways to increase small grant financing, particularly for people in vulnerable situations;

Encourages States to continue discussion on a United Nations framework convention on international tax cooperation;

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, in accordance with national pathways, circumstances and approaches;

Calls upon business enterprises, both transnational and others, as well as international financial institutions, to meet their responsibility to respect human rights, including in the context of climate change and the environment, in conformity with their respective national laws;

Encourages States to implement human rights education initiatives with respect to the environment and climate change, taking into consideration the World Programme for Human Rights Education;

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, inclusive, accessible and transparent manner;

Recalls Human Rights Council resolution 47/24 of 14 July 2021, in which the Council decided to incorporate into its annual programme of work, beginning in 2023, at a minimum a panel discussion, decides that the annual panel discussion to be held at the sixty-second session shall be focused on facilitating actionable pathways for gaining momentum in climate financing in the context of addressing the adverse impacts of climate change on the full realization of human rights for all people, and ways forward to address the challenges thereto, as well as on best practices and lessons learned, 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 sixty-second session to the Human Rights Council at its sixty-fourth 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 Labour Organization, the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) 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 prepare a synthesis report on actionable pathways in mobilizing sufficient climate financing and associated challenges and opportunities in the pursuit of the full realization of human rights for all people, and to submit the report to the Council at its sixty-third 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 High Commissioner 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.

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