A/75/298
5.
As the present report was finalized, a quarter of Bangladesh was flooded,
devastating the lives of millions of people living in poverty and washing away cultural
sites and public spaces. 7
6.
Many of the myriad grave human rights impacts of the climate em ergency have
been well documented, including by other special rapporteurs. 8 The Special
Rapporteur on human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of the right to a
safe, clean and sustainable environment, and many scientific experts, have repeatedl y
spelled out the facts. These include: warming of 1°C to date, and higher increases in
specific locations such as the Arctic, where the rate is double the global average; even
more warming to come – its intensity depending on our actions; major impacts on
livelihoods and rights; increasing extreme weather events and natural disasters;
declining diversity of life on earth; increased disease and threats to health; loss of
lives and mass displacement. 9
7.
The impacts hit specific peoples and places disproportionately, posing particular
threats to the rights and cultures of populations of low-lying small island developing
States, indigenous peoples, rural people, women, persons with disabilities, those
living in poverty and others. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
observed that “people who are socially, economically, culturally, politically,
institutionally or otherwise marginalized are especially vulnerable to climate
change”. 10 Those with pronounced cultural connections to land, sea, natural res ources
and ecosystems, including indigenous, rural and fisher peoples, face disproportionate
devastation of their individual and collective cultural lives.
8.
Women already face many obstacles to the enjoyment of their cultural rights, 11
and climate change worsens these inequalities. Susceptibility to climate impacts and
disasters is gendered, with women facing higher vulnerability to casualties, often due
to factors related to culture such as inability to swim, clothing that restricts mobility
and culturally assigned gender roles. 12 Climate change magnifies existing gender
inequalities between girls and boys, and raises cultural rights-related obstacles for
girls, including increased difficulties accessing education. 13 However, women and
girls are often also the first responders in their localities, working to protect traditions
and ways of life from the negative effects of climate change. Women are catalysts for
climate change activism and play a leading role in creating culture anew and driving
new ways of life to adapt to the climate crisis. 14
9.
Climate change is “the most significant intergenerational equity issue of our
time. Children and future generations are bearing, or will come to bear, the brunt of
its impact on a polluted, degraded planet.” 15 Youth must be recognized not just as
__________________
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
4/23
Somini Sengupta and Julfikar Ali Manik “A quarter of Bangladesh is flooded. Millions have lost
everything.,” New York Times (30 July 2020).
See, e.g., A/74/161; A/HRC/31/52; A/HRC/41/39; and A/HRC/36/46.
See A/74/161 and A/HRC/31/52.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report (2 November
2014), p. 54. Available at www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/02/SYR_AR5_FINAL_full.pdf.
See A/67/287.
Md. Sadequr Rahman, “Climate change, disaster and gender vulnerability: a study on two
divisions of Bangladesh”, American Journal of Human Ecology, vol. 2, No. 2 (2013), pp. 72–82
and 75. Gender impacts intersect with other factors, including age and class to make some
women especially hard hit. “Climate change is brutal for everyone, but worse for women”,
Wired, 25 November 2019. Available at www.wired.com/story/climate-change-and-gender/.
Sadequr Rahman, “Climate change, disaster and gender vulnerability”.
See contribution by International Action Network for Gender Equity and Law. Available at
www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/CulturalRights/Pages/ClimateChange.aspx.
Plan International, “Climate change: focus on girls and young women (September 2019), p. ii.
See also A/HRC/37/58.
20-10595