Dr. Arvind Kumar*
Since systematic scientific assessments began in the 1970s, the influence of human activity on the warming of the climate system has evolved from theory to established fact’, reports IPCC. The 2022 UN Emissions Gap Report says ‘Equity is central to addressing lifestyles. The emissions of the richest 1 per cent of the global population account for more than twice the combined share of the poorest 50 per cent’. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that 21.5 million people are displaced by climate change related disasters every year- more then twice the number of those forced to flee conflict or violence. Today more than 2 billion people live in countries vulnerable to the climate crisis.
India ranks seventh amongst the 10 countries most affected by climate change in the Global Climate Risk Index 2021 published by the Bonn-based environmental think tank Germanwatch, and it has faced several devastating climate disasters in the last few years. In 2021, a London-based global think tank, the Overseas Development Institute, estimated that India may lose 3% to 10% of its gross domestic product (GDP) annually by 2100 due to climate change.
Within the same country or city, people with less privilege in society – whether due to their ethnicity, gender or other factors – are likely to be worst affected by climate change. The logic also applies on an intergenerational basis: young people and future generations have contributed least to rising temperatures but will suffer most from extreme outcomes over the course of this century. Building on these facts, the concept of ‘climate justice’ places an ethical challenge at the heart of the argument for climate action. It identifies climate change as a symptom of unfair and unrepresentative economic, social and political institutions, drawing links to other issues like rising global inequality. The climate crisis affects our rights, our lives and all of us. That’s why it is vital to put human rights at the center of climate action. Otherwise, these actions are incomplete.
This is evidenced by the reality of the climate crisis, translated for example into the damages sustained by millions of people and communities by the floods and storms that have, in recent months, devastated areas in the Caribbean, South Asia, the droughts in South America and the devastating fires in the Amazon, California and Australia. These events severely affect millions of people, including our rights to life, water, food, housing, health, sanitation, adequate standard of living, work, development, healthy environment, culture, self-determination as well as the right to be free from discrimination and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.
According to the World Migration Report 2020, India has the highest level of disaster displacement in South Asia in absolute terms and it is consistently among the highest in the world. In India, an average of around 3.6 million people a year were internally displaced between 2008 and 2019, the majority by flooding during the monsoon. Not long ago, IPCC warned that climate change and rising demand would lead to at least 40% of the Indian population having to live with water scarcity by 2050.
Despite its vulnerability, India has only recently started seriously engaging on the issue of adaptation and particularly loss and damage in the global climate arena. As climate impacts are expected to rise due to increasing warming levels, India needs to systematically invest in the assessment of current and projected losses and damages. It is currently challenged by the lack of regional and sector-specific data to adequately respond to various socio-economic developments and adaptation needs, linking them with temperature rise scenarios and related adverse effects. The climate emergency is a human rights crisis of unprecedented proportions. The climate crisis threatens civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of present and future generations and, ultimately, the future of humanity. But again the question is to have truly effective agreements shouldn’t climate justice be essential to climate adaptation? Large regions have emitted and developed but data shows 70% of the world still needs the right to grow- Doesn’t it?
A win for climate justice of epic proportions
We also have ‘the children’s crusade’ or lawsuits brought by young people seeking to make their governments take stronger action on climate change. Some have been in Germany, the Netherlands, France and Colombia, where the courts ordered governments to take more action to save young people from becoming climate victims. The climate-justice movement has the opportunity to be a movement that is intersectional, connecting layers of sedimented injustices to current risks and threats. It should not just be a movement that seeks to lower carbon footprints so that the world of privileged people is preserved. Climate justice has to begin with the assumption that there is nothing normal about the environmental conditions of today, which were shaped largely by capitalism and colonialism. The most vulnerable people and communities who have contributed least to the crisis are disproportionately affected. It is therefore possible, and necessary, to find balance through a human rights approach.
It’s necessary to hold States, companies and even some sectors of the population accountable. Responsibility with a sense of equity is one of the fundamental principles of human rights. Even the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said “Climate justice is both a moral imperative & a prerequisite for effective global climate action. The climate crisis can only be overcome through cooperation – between peoples, cultures, nations and generations. International courts and tribunals are increasingly being asked to clarify and define the law around global efforts to fight the climate crisis – and for good reason because international law is an important tool for shaping the fight against climate change – and as yet, we’ve not seen its full power.
In a momentous decision at the UN general assembly in March 2023United Nations member states adopted a historic resolution on climate justice. It aims to hold highly polluting countries legally responsible for failing to address the climate crisis. More than 130 UN member states voted for the resolution at the General Assembly in New York on Wednesday. It calls on the world’s highest court, the International Court of Justice, to clarify states’ obligations to tackle the climate emergency. The ICJ will clarify what countries must do about climate change and the legal consequences they’ll face if they don’t.
Way forward
Climate justice matters because the scope of the climate change problem is not only limited to nature. This problem has a human dimension and when humans are involved, justice matters. Under international human rights law, governments have legal and enforceable obligations to tackle the climate crisis, including by rapidly phasing out fossil fuels through a just transition to green energy that respects, protects and fulfills the human rights of all people, especially those most impacted. Campaigning and advocating on the basis of human rights – as opposed to solely environmental protection – can motivate some decision-makers to adopt decisions in favor of human rights-consistent climate action, either due to the intrinsic argument made, or by showing that climate action has broad support in society.
A very powerful climate justice case is Urgenda (2019) where the Dutch Supreme Court ruled that as a matter of inter-national human rights law the Dutch government was obligated to significantly reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. Climate justice should be classed with human rights now — and increasingly, the courts of some countries are recognizing that. Corporations, and particularly fossil fuel companies, must also immediately put measures in place to minimize greenhouse emissions – including by shifting their portfolio towards renewable energy – and make relevant information about their emissions and mitigation efforts public. These efforts must extend to all the major subsidiaries, affiliates and entities in their supply chain. Work together to fairly share the burden of the climate crisis – richer countries must help others. This places a particular onus on leaders to act in good faith and with integrity to strengthen the institutions, cooperation and processes without which progress on climate action will be impossible. By prioritizing climate justice, we can achieve social justice and create a more equitable and sustainable future for all. This is why Climate Justice is not privilege but a basic human right.
*Editor, Focus Global Reporter
