Human Rights and Climate Change

A/HRC/RES/44/7View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the Human Rights Council, under agenda item 3 Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, published in 2020.

What other versions does this mandate have?

16 versions · 2008–2026

This is an older version — the most recent is A/HRC/RES/62/14

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2026	A/HRC/RES/62/14	Human rights and climate change	4,295	37%Compare
2025	A/HRC/RES/59/25	Human rights and climate change	5,334	65%Compare
2024	A/HRC/RES/56/8	Human rights and climate change	4,379	68%Compare
2023	A/HRC/RES/53/6	Human rights and climate change	3,721	45%Compare
2022	A/HRC/RES/50/9	Human rights and climate change	3,746	60%Compare

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

4 reports · 2022–2025

Year	Symbol	Title	Mandate resolution
2025	A/HRC/60/52	Synthesis report on opportunities, best practices, actionable solutions, challenges and barriers relevant to just transition and the full realization of human rights for all people report of the Secretary-General	A/HRC/RES/56/8
2024	A/HRC/57/30	Analytical study on the impact of loss and damage from the adverse effects of climate change on the full enjoyment of human rights, exploring equity-based approaches and solutions to addressing the same report of the Secretary-General	A/HRC/RES/53/6
2023	A/HRC/53/47	Adverse impact of climate change on the full realization of the right to food report of the Secretary-General	A/HRC/RES/50/9
2022	A/HRC/50/57	The impacts of climate change on the human rights of people in vulnerable situations report of the Secretary-General	A/HRC/RES/47/24

What subjects does this mandate have?

6 subjects

Ageing Persons Climate Change Conferences Disaster Preparedness Human Rights Report Preparation

What’s in this document?

15 operative paragraphs

Expresses concern that climate change has contributed and continues to contribute to the increased frequency and intensity of both sudden-onset natural disasters and slow-onset events, and that these adversely affect the full enjoyment of all human rights;

Emphasizes the urgent importance of continuing to address, as they relate to States’ human rights obligations, the adverse consequences of climate change for all, particularly in developing countries and for the people whose situation is most vulnerable to climate change;

Calls upon States to consider, among other aspects, human rights within the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change;

Calls upon all States to adopt a comprehensive, integrated, gender-responsive, age-inclusive and disability-inclusive approach to climate change adaptation and mitigation policies, consistent with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the objective and principles thereof, to address efficiently the economic, cultural and social impact and human rights challenges that climate change presents, for the full and effective enjoyment of human rights for all, and particularly to support the resilience and adaptive capacities of older persons, both in rural and urban areas, to respond to the adverse impact of climate change;

Calls upon States to continue and enhance international cooperation and assistance, in particular in financing, the transfer of technology and capacity-building, for mitigation and adaptation measures to assist developing countries, especially those that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change;

Also calls upon States to better promote human rights in general and the access of older persons in particular to livelihoods, food and nutrition, safe drinking water and sanitation, social protection, health-care services and medicines, education and training, adequate housing and decent work, clean energy, science and technology, and ensure services can be adapted to emergency and humanitarian contexts;

Further calls upon States to develop, strengthen and implement policies for the protection of the right of older persons in response to climate change, as appropriate, by, among other actions, the inclusion of their rights, specific risks, needs and capabilities in climate action plans and other relevant policies or legislation, the mainstreaming of climate change action into resilient and adaptive social and health care, and the provision of information on climate change and disaster preparedness response and planning through all accessible means of communication;

Urges States to strengthen and implement policies aimed at promoting the participation of older persons in the design of policies, plans and mechanisms in climate-related decision-making and disaster risk reduction and management at the community, local, national, regional and international levels, including for preparedness, contingency planning, early warning, evacuation planning, emergency relief, humanitarian response and assistance arrangements;

Decides to incorporate into its programme of work for the forty-seventh session, on the basis of the different elements contained in the present resolution, a panel discussion focusing on the adverse impact of climate change on the full and effective enjoyment of human rights by older persons and best practices and lessons learned in the promotion and protection of the rights of older persons, and also decides that the panel discussion will have international sign interpretation and captioning;

Invites special procedure mandate holders, within their respective mandates, and other relevant stakeholders with appropriate expertise, including academic experts, and civil society organizations, including older persons and their associations, to contribute actively to the panel discussion;

Requests the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to submit a summary report on the panel discussion to the Human Rights Council at its forty-ninth session, and to make the report available in accessible formats, including Plain Language and Easy-to-Read;

Also requests the Office of the High Commissioner, in consultation with and taking into account the views of States, the special procedures of the Human Rights Council, including the Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons, the Open-ended Working Group on Ageing, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Environment Programme, the World Meteorological Organization and other relevant international organizations and intergovernmental bodies, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and other stakeholders, to conduct, from within existing resources, a study on the promotion and protection of the rights of older persons in the context of climate change, including their particular vulnerabilities, such as physical and mental health risks, and their contributions to efforts to address the adverse impact of climate change, to be circulated to States and other stakeholders, including older persons and their associations, and to be submitted to the Council prior to its forty-seventh session, and further requests the Office to make the study available in accessible formats, including Plain Language and Easy-to-Read;

Encourages relevant special procedure mandate holders to continue to consider the issue of climate change and human rights, including the adverse impact of climate change on the full and effective enjoyment of human rights, particularly the rights of older persons, within their respective mandates;

Requests the Secretary-General and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to provide all the human and technical assistance necessary for the effective and timely realization of the above-mentioned panel discussion and the summary report thereon;

Decides to remain seized of the matter.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What other versions does this mandate have?

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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