The need of the hour is to clearly stipulate the human rights obligations under the UNFCCC to use human rights law and its related mechanisms to influence and improve international climate change policy as governed by the UNFCCC to make that policy fairer and more effective.
Authors
Abhinav Mehrotra, Assistant Professor, Jindal Global Law School, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana, India.
Amit Upadhyay, Associate Professor, Jindal Global Law School, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana, India.
Summary
As the 28th Conference of Parties or COP-28, takes place in Dubai, member states have approved a Loss and Damage Fund meant to support vulnerable countries in coping with the consequences of climate change. The fund was first announced at the conclusion of COP-27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, which was followed by meetings between transitional committees and is set to finally begin operation after the member countries managed to settle their differences allowing the fund to be officially launched at COP-28.
The fund is provided to countries facing adverse consequences of climate change despite having low carbon emissions and carbon footprints. The fund is contributed by mostly wealthier industrial nations whose industrial activities in the previous decades have fuelled global warming and rising sea levels, changing weather patterns, and droughts affecting the livelihood of many individuals wiping their identities, and social and cultural traditions around the world.
This fund may help ensure rescue and rehabilitation efforts by these countries. All developing countries are eligible to apply for the fund. A certain percentage of the fund has been set apart for a category of least developed countries and small island developing states. Even though some disagreements still persist among member countries, the launch of the fund is seen as a necessary step in the right direction.
All these developments highlight the importance of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement as expressions of the determination to decisively address the threat posed by climate change. In this light, there is a need to understand the relationship between climate change and human rights as the Loss and Damage fund seeks to address the issues faced by the humans residing in the developing, least developed, and small island states.
Published in: The Geopolitics
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