GENEVA (4 November 2022) – UN independent experts* today called on States to fully integrate human rights standards and principles in negotiations during the 27th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) starting in Egypt on Sunday. They made the following statement:
“In 2015, States adopted the Paris Agreement, pledging to respect human rights in all climate actions. However, as the parties meet in Sharm el Sheikh for COP27, little progress has been made in the area of human rights, or climate actions.
The United Nations Human Rights Council has stressed that human rights obligations, standards and principles have the potential to inform and strengthen international, regional and national policymaking in the area of climate change, thereby promoting policy coherence, legitimacy and sustainable outcomes. However, human rights, and the financing required to realise these rights, have yet to be mainstreamed in climate change discussions, including the annual COPs.