Dr. Uzma Shujjat
Director, Area Study Centre for Europe
University of Karachi
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 technologies to address climate change. Climate change is one of the greatest threats to human rights of our generation, posing a serious threat to the fundamental rights to life, health, food, and an adequate standard of living of individuals and communities across the world.
The dramatic impact of climate change has exposed devastating clarity and the integral of a healthy environment to the benefit of all our other rights. Climate change is intimately linked with human rights because of its effect on not only the environment but also our own well-being and ultimately our survival. Big powers, especially from higher-income countries with the greatest historical responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions, are not fulfilling their responsibilities.
World leaders, especially those from the developed world, have the greatest responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions and do not fulfill their legal obligations to address climate change and help, in the long run, adapt to the change that has already occurred. If these developed ones are not going to respond seriously and act quickly, the effects of the unprecedented weather conditions of frequent heat waves, excessive flooding, and rainfall will continue to rise and worsen over time, creating a threat for current and future generations. Thus, the failure of governments to act in a responsible manner to address the crises accompanying scientific evidence and frequent dialers and predictions may well be the biggest intergovernmental human rights violation in human history.
In addition to the Government, the corporate sector is responsible for addressing and respecting human rights in the context of climate change. The impact of climate change includes warming temperatures, changes in precipitation, and increases in the frequency or intensity of extreme weather, and rising sea levels.
These impacts threaten our health by affecting the food we eat, water we drink, air we breathe, and weather we experience. The human actions that affect climate change, such as burning fossil fuels, cutting down forests, and farming livestock, have increasingly influenced the climate and the earth’s temperature. According to Resolution 53/6 July 2023, the council recognized the importance of minimizing and addressing the loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change.
The dangers of climate change are particularly important for Children. Climate change has threatened livelihoods in the last decade, and international, regional, and national Human Rights bodies have recorded a rise in human rights violations in accordance with climate change. Here, we consider some high-risk human rights violations that are solely connected with livelihoods.
Access to clean water climate change is meagerly affecting and will continue to affect rising trends and the availability, accessibility, and affordability of water. This was mostly due to natural degradation changes and anthropogenic factors. Large corporate sectors are highly responsible for large-scale damage to the water system, contamination, and poor quality of water, which are sources of amenities. The right to life and climate change have a vital connection; sudden extreme weather events due to changes in the natural system, such as heat waves, wildfires, excessive flooding, and rainfall, usually lead to people losing their lives, resulting in a very high death toll, right to health, and food.