More than hot air : reflections on the relationship between climate change and human rights

The two areas of human rights and climate change are inextricably linked. They are both dependent upon the international cooperation of states and are part of the domain of the common concern of humankind. (1) As such, the protection of human rights and of the climate depends upon multilateral action on the part of the international community, particularly in circumstances where human rights are violated due to the adverse impacts of climate change. A key argument in this article is that there should be a focus on addressing the causes of climate change by developing international environmental law, because climate change forms a fundamental threat to the welfare of both humankind and the environment. This form of protection is likely to lead to more effective prevention of human rights violations that occur as a consequence of climate change, rather than relying solely upon the present legal framework for international human rights law.