STATE RESPONSIBILITY FOR CLIMATE CHANGE-INDUCED HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

This paper is concerned with the question of whether it is possible, in principle, to establish international responsibility of States for climate change-induced interferences with human rights. The paper argues that a tentatively affirmative answer to this question may be found by interpreting international human rights law in its broader context of the general law on State responsibility. In accordance with this law, States' omissions that contribute to dangerous climate change could be attributable to individual States based on a failure on the part of its organs to carry out the States' international obligations. To determine whether a breach of obligations could be established, the right to life is taken as an example. Focusing on its expression in Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the paper sets out States' obligations to respect and ensure this right. It demonstrates how these obligations could be interpreted in light of States' obligations under international climate change law, thus creating specific obligations to protect human life against climate impacts. It concludes that despite some unresolved legal questions, State responsibility for climate change-induced human rights violations may well be established.