UN Special Rapporteur report on human rights and climate change (2016)

First published on 12/31/2016, and last updated on 06/23/2017

UN Special Rapporteur on the issue of human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment: report to the UN Human Rights Council on the human rights obligations relating to climate change (2016, A/HRC/31/52)

Available in 6 UN languages here

Summary: In this report, Special Rapporteur Prof. John H. Knox describes the increasing attention paid to the relationship between climate change and human rights in recent years, reviews the effects of climate change on the full enjoyment of human rights and outlines the application of human rights obligations to climate-related actions. He explains that States have procedural and substantive obligations relating to climate change, as well as duties to protect the rights of the most vulnerable.