November 14, 2010
November 02, 2010
Objective of the National Peoples Tribunal on Climate Crisis
The National People’s Tribunal will be akin to a moot court and will hear and record evidences on impact of climate change in order to ascertain the state responsibility and responsibility of developed countries to redress climate change impacts in developing countries. Based on the evidences recorded and opinion of expert witnesses, the Tribunal will award its verdict which will emphasize how climate change has impacted food security and livelihood and resulted in increased migration. It will also assess what substantive rights of people/victims have been affected and instruct the state to address those violations in the light of legal framework (the Constitution of India, case laws on environment and climate change, the law of tort, and the commitment made by the government of India in various international covenants related to civil and political rights, rights of women and children, rights against discrimination, and other covenants. Besides, it will also instruct the state to improve social security mechanisms and improve its implementation so that the adaptive capacity of the population which is affected the most can be enhanced.
Objectives of the Tribunal
- To record evidences on impact of climate change on food security, livelihood and migration in rain fed areas and flood plains.
- To examine community based coping mechanisms and share best practices of adaptation and mitigation efforts in the area of agriculture and food security.
- To generate accountability of the state and non-state actors to address rights violations and climate change and contribute to prove that sufficient provisions exist to make the state and non-state actors liable.
- To increase pressure on key national/ state agencies to take serious actions to mitigate climate change and contribute towards adaptation needs of all especially the most vulnerable.
- To assess the liability and responsibility of developed countries and multilateral Institutions in addressing severe impacts of climate crisis on food security, livelihood and displacement.
- To increase pressure on global actors to lay more emphasis on agriculture and food security in climate negotiations and conclude a just and equitable deal as the earliest.
The process and the verdict of the Tribunal will be also shared with the global audience through print and audio-visual medium and side events. Tribunal related Publications will be showcased and distributed at exhibit Booths of the organizers. Media attention will be ensured though formal and informal interaction with national and global media.
October 19, 2010
NATIONAL PEOPLES' TRIBUNAL ON CLIMATE CHANGE
November 16th, 2010
New Delhi, India
The National peoples Tribunal will develop Peoples jurisprudence on climate change. Despite the deficient legal framework on climate change laws, increasing number of action in courts in different countries prove that there are enough provisions in the Public and private international law and domestic legislations to attempt bring accountability on the national governments to protect people from the climate change impacts. The most popular case in point is Inuit’s case where indigenous people bordering USA and Canada brought an action in American Commission on Human Rights. The petition sought relief from violations of the human rights of Inuit resulting from global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions from the United States. Many similar actions on climate change might not succeed in the absence of proof of causation; however, they show a rising public and juridical opinion to seek legal redress to impacts of climate change. In the circumstances, it is only desirable that more such actions are brought to judicial, quasi judicial and peoples forum.
The National Peoples Tribunal will explore legal spaces available to generate state accountability to mitigate and protect people from climate change impacts. Besides, it would also send a strong message to the developed countries to conclude a fair and just climate deal.
To know more about the Tribunal please click on the links below :
October 18, 2010
HUMAN RIGHTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE - III
RIGHT TO ADEQUATE HOUSING
Observed and projected climate change will affect the right to adequate housing in several ways. Sea level rise and storm surges will have a direct impact on many coastal settlements. Settlements in low-lying deltas are also particularly at risk, as evidenced by the millions of people and homes affected by flooding in recent years.
The erosion of livelihoods, partly caused by climate change, is a main “push” factor for increasing rural to urban migration. Many will move to urban slums and informal settlements where they are often forced to build shelters in hazardous areas. Already today, an estimated 1 billion people live in urban slums on fragile hillsides or flood-prone riverbanks and face acute vulnerability to extreme climate events.
Human rights guarantees in the context of climate change include: (a) adequate protection of housing from weather hazards (habitability of housing); (b) access to housing away from hazardous zones; (c) access to shelter and disaster preparedness in cases of displacement caused by extreme weather events; (d) protection of communities that are relocated away from hazardous zones, including protection against forced evictions without appropriate forms of legal or other protection, including adequate consultation with affected persons.
October 12, 2010
HUMAN RIGHTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE - II
RIGHT TO WATER
Loss of glaciers and reductions in snow cover are projected to increase and to negatively affect water availability for more than one-sixth of the world’s population supplied by meltwater from mountain ranges. Weather extremes, such as drought and flooding, will also impact on water supplies. Climate change will thus exacerbate existing stresses on water resources and compound the problem of access to safe drinking water, currently denied to an estimated 1.1 billion people globally and a major cause of morbidity and disease. In this regard, climate change interacts with a range of other causes of water stress, such as population growth, environmental degradation, poor water management, poverty and inequality.
RIGHT TO HEALTH
Climate change is projected to affect the health status of millions of people, including through increases in malnutrition, increased diseases and injury due to extreme weather events, and an increased burden of diarrhoeal, cardio-respiratory and infectious diseases. Global warming may also affect the spread of malaria and other vector borne diseases in some parts of the world. Overall, the negative health effects will disproportionately be felt in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and the Middle East. Poor health and malnutrition increases vulnerability and reduces the capacity of individuals and groups to adapt to climate change.
Climate change constitutes a severe additional stress to health systems worldwide, prompting the Special Rapporteur on the right to health to warn that a failure of the international community to confront the health threats posed by global warming will endanger the lives of millions of people. Most at risk are those individuals and communities with a low adaptive capacity. Conversely, addressing poor health is one central aspect of reducing vulnerability to the effects of climate change.
Non-climate related factors, such as education, health care, public health initiatives, are critical in determining how global warming will affect the health of populations. Protecting the right to health in the face of climate change will require comprehensive measures, including mitigating the adverse impacts of global warming on underlying determinants of health and giving priority to protecting vulnerable individuals and communities.
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