Klimatförändringar och mänskliga rättigheter : Staters skyldigheter att hantera klimatförändringarnaenligt internationell rätt för mänskliga rättigheter

Climate change is one of the greatest global challenges of our time, threatening the development and existence of humanity. Levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and global average temperatures are reaching new record highs every year. The main cause of the increased intensity of climate change is human emissions of greenhouse gases. While there is an extensive body of international climate change law governing the obligations of states to address climate change, climate changes also threaten other areas of international law. Climate change also threatens the enjoyment of human rights. The purpose of this study is to examine the obligations of states to address climate changes in order to uphold human rights under international human rights law. The study is done through a legal-dogmatic approach to determine the applicable international law of states’ obligations. A variety of legal sources such as case law, general comments, resolutions, statements and reports from the European and Inter-American human rights systems as well as from the UN human rights system are examined using the theoretical framework of the obligation of states to respect, protect and fulfil human rights to determine the obligations of states to address climate change. The results of the analysis suggest that states have obligations to take positive actions and to cooperate in order to uphold their human rights obligations, both in terms of mitigation and adaptation measures.