WHAT IS AMNESTY DOING TO ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE?

 

WHAT IS AMNESTY DOING TO ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE? 

There is an urgent need to put people and human rights at the centre of the climate change conversation. For Amnesty International and other human rights organizations, this means pushing for accountability for states who fail to act on climate change, just as we do with other human rights violations. 

Chiara Liguori, Policy Adviser, Amnesty International

Amnesty International’s work on climate change includes standing up for human rights in the Paris Agreement on climate change, contributing to stronger human rights standards on climate change, and supporting environmental groups as they put forward human rights arguments.

Given the urgency of this issue, an important part of our role is to help galvanize the human rights community, by showing how climate change is impacting people’s rights and highlighting how people are mobilizing to respond to the reality and the threat of climate change.

Amnesty is working with a variety of different groups in key countries to mount pressure against governments and corporations which are obstructing progress. Amnesty is also supporting young people, Indigenous peoples, trade unions and affected communities, to demand a rapid and just transition to a zero-carbon economy that leaves no one behind. Litigation and the use of national and regional human rights mechanisms are additional tools to keep up the pressure.

Amnesty International has built on its work supporting environmental defenders to facilitate the work of those protecting land, food, communities and people against climate impacts, extraction and expansion of fossil fuels and deforestation. Defending the civic space for information, participation and mobilization also contributes towards promoting more progressive climate policies.

OUR DEMANDS

Amnesty is calling for governments to:

• Do everything they can to help stop the global temperature rising by more than 1.5°C.
• Collectively reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to absolute zero before or by 2050. Richer countries should do this faster. By 2030, global emissions must be half as much as they were in 2010.
• Stop using and producing fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) as quickly as possible.
• Make sure that climate action is done in a way that does not violate anyone’s human rights, and reduces rather than increases inequality
• Make sure everyone, in particular those affected by climate change or the transition to a fossil-free economy, is properly informed about what is happening and is able to participate in decisions about their futures.
• Work together to fairly share the burden of climate change – richer countries must provide financial and technical support to people in developing countries who have suffered and will continue to suffer losses and damages caused by the climate crisis.
• Safeguard the rights of those displaced or at risk of displacement due to climate change.