Dimensiones de los derechos humanos en el cambio climático: sinergías y salvedades
| Autor | Juan Auz Vaca |
| Cargo | Investigador jurídico independiente, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3411-0596 |
| Páginas | 137-162 |
137Revista Facultad de Jurisprudencia RFJ No.1 Junio 2017
Dimensiones de los Derechos Humanos en el
Cambio Climático: Sinergias y Salvedades
Human Rights Dimensions in Climate Chamge:
Synergies and Caveats
Dr. Juan Auz Vaca
Investigador Jurídico, Fundación Pacha Mama
Artículo Original (Investigación)
RFJ, No. 1, 2017, pp. 137-162, ISSN 2588-0837
RESUME N: El cambio climático enlaz a serias amenazas a l disfrute de
los derechos humanos en todo el mundo, especialmente en los secto-
res más vulnerables de la sociedad. Esto implica que los Estados tie-
nen deberes positivos y negativos al proteger los derechos sustantivos
y procesales en este contexto. Sin emb argo, existen varios desaf íos le-
gales cuando se utilizan los derechos humanos pa ra abordar los efec-
tos del cambio climát ico. Dichos desafíos son en su mayoría palpables ,
no sólo en los casos nacionales y regionales de derechos humanos re-
lacionados con el cambio climático, sino también en las medidas de
mitigación del cambio climático como una amenaza latente para los
derechos humanos.
PALABRAS CLAVE: Cambio Climático, Derechos Humanos, Dere-
cho Ambienta l, regulación regiona l, regulación
AB STR ACT: Clim ate change poses serious th reats to the enjoyment of
human rig hts around the world, particul arly for the most vulnerable
members of society; hence, states have positive and negative duties
when safeguarding substantive and procedural rights in this context.
However, there are several legal challenges when human rights law
is used to address the effects of climate change. Said challenges are
mostly tang ible, not only for climate change-related ca ses in domestic
and regional hum an rights law situations, but also as regards clim ate
change miti gation measures as a potential th reat to human rights.
KEY WORDS: Clim ate Change, Human Rights, Environmental Law,
regional regulation, regu lation.
138Revista Facultad de Jurisprudencia RFJ No.1 Junio 2017
INTRODUCTION
Within Intern ational Law Human R ights has aris en as an anti-thesis
to internationa l political catastrophes, a imed at protecting those most
vulnerable by alleviating international distress through the use of
an ethical discourse in order to seek remedial measures and prevent
further h arm. It is a form of reinventing huma nism to “self-impose
disaster beh ind” (Moyn, 2010, 87). The most obvious example of this
interpretation is the creation of the Universal Declaration of Huma n
Rights, bor n after World War II. In this context, hu man rights could
be also deemed a counter-na rrative, a tool for empowerment and an
instru ment to allow for the balance of power.
The conclusion of this historical lesson is that human rights
violations are cau sed by a plethora of reasons. Under this logic, it
would not be out of context to view Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions,
which cause cli mate change, as a source currently impacting the
enjoyment of human rights for millions of people around the world
(OHCHR, 2009, 16). This confirm s that a global concern of worldwide
consequences should be addressed by all states, by adopting both
preventive and corrective measu res in order to fully tackle the
problem. This focus i s parallel to other global-sc ale problems such
as slavery, torture and genocide –which were dealt with by adopting
internationa l treaties, prohibiting these practices, now considered as
erga omnes obligation s– (Shaw, 2008, 275), not only in the sense t hat
major political volition is needed in order to see significant results,
but also because viewing climate cha nge as a human rights problem
might provide “greater moral urgency and appeals to an additional
constituency beyond envi ronmentalists” (Bodansky, 2010, 518).
It should be taken into consideration that enormous international
efforts have been made so far for tackling climate cha nge; from the
universally endorsed UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC), to the Kyoto Protocol and the numerous decisions by the
Conference of the Parties of bot h instruments. However, a human
rights approach to this global issue is stil l considerably lacking (S.
McInerney-Lank ford, M. Darrow and L . Rajamani, 2011, 8).
This gap, however, is being fi lled with important but relatively new
discuss ions being engaged in by academic s (S. McInerney-Lank ford et
al., 2009), the Human Rig hts Council (HRC, 2008; HRC, 2009; HRC,
2012; HRC, 2014; HRC, 2015) and its Special Procedures (UNGA,
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