A human rights-based approach to climate injustices at the local, national, and international levels: Program and policy recommendations

The climate crisis threatens and violates human rights to development, education, food, health, housing, life, meaningful and informed participation, self-determination, and water. Climate injustices refer to how some communities are shouldering the disproportionate brunt of the negative effects of climate change while being the least responsible. With a human rights-based approach focused on protection and participation rights, this paper reviews climate injustices based on age, disability, ethnicity, gender identity, geography, income, Indigenous identity, migratory status, race, refugee and internally displaced status, and their intersections. Policy recommendations include increasing climate education, utilizing disaggregated data, and expanding mental health services. Cross-cutting themes throughout the paper are that climate change is interconnected with other crises, thereby compounding inequalities, and that a diversity of interdisciplinary and international perspectives and knowledge centered on the voices of frontline communities are essential for addressing the climate crisis.