Reframing Climate Change as a Human Rights Crisis

Author: Eirini Triantafyllidou

May 6, 2026

[Image credit: World Meteorological Organization]

Introduction

According to the United Nations, climate change refers to long-term changes in temperature and weather patterns. While such changes historically occurred due to natural processes, since the Industrial Revolution, they have been primarily driven by human activities. The burning of fossil fuels, along with industrial agriculture and other human activities, has significantly increased the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Climate change is no longer a distant or abstract phenomenon. It is a global reality that directly and profoundly affects societies worldwide. It has a significant impact on our daily lives, and it shapes the way we act towards and think about the environment. Its consequences are more evident than ever before. The environment constitutes the fundamental space within which human life develops and depends. Individuals both live within it and rely upon it for their survival. Consequently, harm to the environment inevitably leads to a direct impact on human living conditions and well-being. Extreme weather events, such as floods, wildfires, and heatwaves, result in loss of life and population displacement. The degradation of natural resources affects access to essential goods necessary for human survival. 

According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the past decade (2015-2024) has been the warmest on record. In particular, the global mean near-surface temperature in 2024 was 1.55 ± 0.13 °C above the 1850-1900 average, making it the warmest year in the 175-year observational record. According to the WMO, more than 11,000 weather-related disasters have been recorded between 1970 and 2019, causing over 2 million deaths. Droughts have increased by approximately 29% since 2000. The rise in global temperatures is often associated with more frequent and severe extreme weather events across the world, including but not limited to heatwaves, cold waves, floods, droughts, wildfires, and storms.

These developments are not solely environmental concerns. They have profound implications for fundamental human rights. Climate change directly threatens the right to life, health, water, food, and adequate housing. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights highlights the close connection between environmental protection and human dignity.

It is important to note that these impacts are not distributed equally across the population, as certain groups are disproportionately affected. These include primarily indigenous populations, older persons, children, and low-income communities. As highlighted in the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) 2025 report, entitled “Overlapping Hardships: Poverty and Climate Hazards,” new evidence demonstrates that poverty is not merely a socio-economic issue but is closely linked to environmental pressures and instability. As noted by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Acting Administrator Haoliang Xu, “our new research shows that to address global poverty and create a more stable world for everyone, we must confront the climate risks endangering nearly 900 million poor people.’’ The climate crisis and its impacts increasingly exacerbate the challenges faced by people living in poverty, thereby widening existing inequalities. This is largely due to their limited capacity to adapt to changing climatic conditions. These unequal and disproportionate impacts underline that climate change is not only an environmental or socio-economic issue, but a matter of human rights protection, requiring a coherent legal framework that imposes clear obligations on States.

Legal Framework

Human rights are inherent to all human beings by virtue of their existence, as recognized by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). It is now widely accepted, through international legal instruments such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), as well as through the jurisprudence of international bodies such as the European Court of Human Rights, that binding obligations exist at both national and international levels for their protection. 

The first reference to the environment in a United Nations treaty can be found in the ICESCR, adopted in 1966, which, within the framework of the right to health, recognizes the importance of “the improvement of all aspects of environmental and industrial hygiene.” This marks the first link between environmental protection and human well-being. Subsequently, this connection was further acknowledged in various international fora (structured platforms such as the UN, G20, OECD, & WTO), with treaty bodies and UN organizations highlighting the impact of environmental degradation, including the climate crisis, on the enjoyment of the right to health.

The climate crisis places the right to life, enshrined in the ICCPR, at serious risk. Climate-related phenomena such as floods, wildfires, heatwaves, and storms may lead to loss of life, injuries, and population displacement. This demonstrates the close relationship between environmental risks and the protection of fundamental rights. Despite the fact that the ICCPR has been ratified by over 170 States worldwide, significant gaps remain in its effective implementation. In practice, those most affected by climate-related harm are often the least responsible for global emissions, as reflected in findings of the United Nations Environment Programme. These findings show that lower-income populations contribute only a small amount of global emissions while bearing a disproportionate burden of climate impacts. 

In addition, international climate law plays an important role. In particular, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) establishes the basic framework for international cooperation aimed at promoting sustainable development and limiting greenhouse gas emissions. It requires states to adopt appropriate measures for both mitigation and adaptation to climate change. Furthermore, the Paris Agreement of 2015 explicitly recognizes in its preamble the importance of respecting human rights, especially in relation to vulnerable groups such as indigenous peoples and migrants. 

UN programs further develop these state obligations through their decisions and reports. In particular, the Human Rights Council, through resolutions and the work of Special Rapporteurs, independent specialists who monitor specific human rights, has emphasized that state obligations extend to protecting against the foreseeable harm of vulnerable populations. At the same time, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) emphasizes the importance of integrating human rights into climate policies, promoting principles such as public participation and access to justice (UNEP, 2019).

In essence, these Covenants establish binding obligations on States to respect and protect fundamental human rights, including the rights to life, health, food, water, and housing, which are directly threatened by the impacts of climate change.

Climate Litigation 

The link between the impacts of climate change and human rights has become increasingly evident through the emergence of relevant cases before both national and international courts. Through their decisions, courts have acknowledged the existence of a substantive connection between climate change and the protection of fundamental rights, thereby highlighting the growing need to strengthen such protection. 

A notable example is the case of Urgenda Foundation v. Netherlands. This was the first case worldwide in which citizens successfully argued that their government has a legal obligation to prevent dangerous climate change. The dispute concerned the pace at which the Dutch government was required to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Urgenda, an environmental organization founded in 2008 representing 886 Dutch citizens, argued that the government had failed to adopt adequate policies to address climate change, thereby exposing both human health and the environment to serious and irreversible harm. The Court, relying on Articles 2 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, held that insufficient reduction of emissions constituted a breach of the State’s positive obligations and concluded that the Dutch government was required to take immediate and effective measures to mitigate climate change. As a result, it was ordered to reduce emissions by at least 25% by 2020 compared to 1990 levels. 

Another important case is Verein KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz v. Switzerland, which further strengthened the link between Article 8 ECHR and State obligations in the context of climate change. The applicants argued that the Swiss authorities had violated Article 8 by failing to protect their private and family life, including their homes. The Court found that Switzerland had not adequately fulfilled its obligations, emphasizing that the existing legal framework was neither sufficient nor clear. It also stressed that, given the urgency of the climate crisis, general and vague commitments are not enough, and that concrete and immediate measures are required.

These cases demonstrate that the connection between climate change and human rights has now been firmly established at the level of case law. At the same time, they highlight that States have concrete legal obligations to take effective measures to protect fundamental rights from the impacts of climate change. 

Conclusion 

Despite the significant contribution of courts, which have confirmed that climate change constitutes a threat to fundamental rights, certain legal and practical challenges remain. One of the main difficulties lies in establishing causation, as it is often unclear who is responsible for the harm. Climate change is not an isolated phenomenon that can be attributed to a single state, but rather a complex issue resulting from the combined actions of states and individuals. It is a global phenomenon, the consequences of which extend beyond national borders. 

Another important challenge is that many of its impacts do not occur immediately but manifest over the long term, making effective legal protection more difficult to achieve in practice. 

Climate change is one of the most pressing challenges of our time and requires action at both the collective and individual levels. Its consequences are not limited to the environment but directly affect human existence and the enjoyment of fundamental rights. Protecting the environment, as the space in which humans live and develop, simultaneously entails the protection of human rights. States must act collectively, guided by a sense of shared security and responsibility, rather than in opposition to one another. The environment is a common good, and its protection ultimately depends on effective and coordinated action by States to safeguard both present and future generations.

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Glossary 

• Adaptation: Measures taken to adjust to the current and future impacts of climate change, including improving infrastructure, restoring ecosystems, and adopting climate-resilient crops. 

• Climate change: Long-term changes in the state of the climate, identified through changes in average weather patterns and/or their variability, persisting for decades or longer.

• Global mean near-surface temperature: The average temperature of the air near the Earth’s surface, measured globally over land and oceans.

• Greenhouse gas emissions: Τhe release of gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide into the atmosphere.

• Human rights: Fundamental rights and freedoms inherent to all human beings, including the rights to life, health, food, water, and adequate housing.

• Inequality: Difference, unfairness, commonly refers to the unfair, disproportionate distribution of resources, opportunities, and rights among individuals or groups, such as in income, education, or healthcare.

• International climate law: The body of international treaties, agreements, and legal principles that regulate global efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

• International fora: International platforms or institutions where states and other actors meet to discuss and address global issues.

• Jurisprudence: The body of legal principles and case law developed through judicial decisions.

• Mitigation: Human actions aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, such as using renewable energy, improving energy efficiency, and adopting sustainable land-use practices.

• Socio-economic issue: An issue involving the interaction between social and economic factors, including income, education, employment, and living conditions.

• Special Rapporteurs: Independent experts appointed by the United Nations to monitor, report on, and advise on specific human rights issues.

• Sustainable development: Development that keeps economic growth, environmental protection, and human well-being equally in mind while being planned, built, and operated. 

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References

1.  United Nations, What Is Climate Change?, available at: https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/what-is-climate-change

2. World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Atlas of Mortality and Economic Losses from Weather, Climate and Water-related Hazards (1970–2021), available at: https://wmo.int/publication-series/atlas-of-mortality-and-economic-losses-from-weather-climate-and-water-related-hazards-1970-2021

3. World Meteorological Organization (WMO), WMO Confirms 2024 as Warmest Year on Record, available at: https://wmo.int/news/media-centre/wmo-confirms-2024-warmest-year-record-about-155degc-above-pre-industrial-level

4. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Emissions Gap Report 2023, available at: https://www.unep.org/interactives/emissions-gap-report/2023/

5. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Climate Change and Human Rights, available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/climate-change

6. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Impacts of Climate Change on the Effective Enjoyment of Human Rights, available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/climate-change/impacts-climate-change-effective-enjoyment-human-rights

7. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), What Are Human Rights?, available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/what-are-human-rights

8. United Nations, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-covenant-civil-and-political-rights

9. United Nations, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-covenant-economic-social-and-cultural-rights

10. United Nations, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), available at: https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/united-nations-framework-convention-on-climate-change

11. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Poverty and Climate Hazards, available at: https://feature.undp.org/poverty-climate-hazards/

12. Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), Global Multidimensional Poverty Index 2025, available at: https://ophi.org.uk/sites/default/files/2026-01/GMPI_2025_Overlapping_2.pdf

13. Urgenda Foundation v. State of the Netherlands, available at: https://www.climatecasechart.com/document/urgenda-foundation-v-state-of-the-netherlands_3297

14. Verein KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz v. Switzerland (ECtHR, 2024), available at: https://hudoc.echr.coe.int