Impacts

Understanding the Vulnerabilities of Climate Change

As the climate continues to change, we face greater challenges that will impact each of our universal human rights. This will affect all aspects of living, from extreme climate events that threaten our homes to direct effects on our health and food security.

However, there is good news. Together, we can develop effective mitigation and adaptation plans that enable all of us, including future generations, to live in a world where their rights to life, home, cultural heritage and identity are more secure.

Climate Change Impacts

Poverty, livelihoods and sustainable development

Cities, settlements and community infrastructure

Ocean and coastal ecosystems

Health, well-being and safety

Biodiversity and ecosystems

Food and ecosystems products

People Most Affected

Indigenous people
Women
Children and future generations
Migrants and internally displaced people
People with disabilities

Impacts Educator’s Guide

Bring the conversation about climate change impacts to the classroom. Free and available for all educators.

“The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.”

—Robert Swan

Polar explorer and environmental leader

In Their Own Words

Five summit panelists share their take on climate change and human rights.

Panelist Stories

Across the Globe

People around the world share how climate change has impacted their communities.

Regional Stories

Human Rights & Climate Change

Human rights are universal legal rights established by the United Nations General Assembly that extend to every person. The rights were established to protect people against actions—or lack of actions—that interfere with a person’s fundamental freedom to life, liberty and security of person.

The Right to Life

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person. The inherent right to life of every human being is a fundamental right that cannot be limited or suspended under any circumstances.

Impacts of Climate Change:

Health, well-being and safety

Effects on child growth and development
Increased hunger and malnutrition
Increased illness and death from cardiorespiratory conditions

People Most Affected:

People in sub-Saharan Africa
People in South Asia
Future generations

~250,000 additional deaths

caused each year, between 2030 and 2050, by climate change due to malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea and heat stress

(World Health Organization)

The Right to Self-Determination & Development

Everyone is entitled to participate in, contribute to and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political development in which all human rights and fundamental freedoms can be fully realized.

Impacts of Climate Change:

Poverty, livelihoods and sustainable development

Climate change threatens lives and livelihoods, and the survival of entire peoples.

Cities, settlements and community infrastructure

People living in small island states, as well as Indigenous people, face increasing challenges to their ability to continue to live on their traditional territory and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development. Those challenges include:
- Rising sea levels
- Tropical and extratropical cyclones
- Increasing air and sea surface temperatures
- Changing rainfall patterns
- Loss of adaptive capacity and ecosystem services

Biodiversity and ecosystems

Climate change is seriously affecting coastal areas and low-lying coastal countries, including many least developed countries and small island developing states, threatening the survival of societies and the biological support systems of the planet.

People Most Affected:

Small island states
Indigenous peoples
Future generations

100 million additional people

will be pushed into poverty by 2030 due to climate change

(The World Bank)

The Right to Health

The right to health includes access to safe and potable water and adequate sanitation; an adequate supply of safe food, nutrition and housing; and healthy work and environmental conditions.

Impacts of Climate Change:

Health, well-being and safety

Climate change affects physical and mental health and the well-being of people and communities.
Climate change is already affecting the future determinants of health, such as clean air, safe drinking water, sufficient food and secure shelter.

Biodiversity and ecosystems

Environmental degradation, including climate change, contributes to the loss of biodiversity, creating the conditions for the types of diseases that frequently result in viral epidemics.

People Most Affected:

All people experiencing severe inequalities, both between and within populations
Future generations

One new infectious disease

emerges in humans every four months, on average. Human-induced environmental changes modify wildlife population structures, resulting in increased environmental conditions for hosts, vectors and pathogens, expanding potential to disease.

The Right to Food

Everyone has the right to be free from hunger by food availability, accessibility, acceptability and sustainability. Everyone has the right to sufficient, adequate and culturally acceptable food.

Impacts of Climate Change:

Food and ecosystems products

The harmful effects of climate change, such as global warming, not only hamper crop, livestock, fisheries and aquaculture productivity, they also influence the frequency of extreme weather and natural hazards.
Climate change undermines food security by affecting food access and price stability, with disproportionate impacts on those who have contributed the least to global warming and are more vulnerable to its harmful effects.

People Most Affected:

People in areas that have recently experienced climate change-related extreme weather, severely affecting their food security:

South Asia
Sub-Saharan Africa
Middle East
Central America
Future generations

~80% of the world's poor

—about 800 million people—live in rural areas that rely on agriculture, forestry and fisheries for their survival and are particularly affected by extreme weather caused by climate change

The Right to Water & Sanitation

The human right to water entitles everyone to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic use.

Impacts of Climate Change:

Health, well-being and safety

The competition for increasingly scarce water, exacerbated by climate change, will have far-reaching consequences as water shortages have been an essential factor in conflict, violence, displacement and social unrest.
The effects of climate change include heightened vulnerability to climatic events, including cyclones and drought, and increased frequency of extreme weather, water scarcity, saltwater intrusions and sea-level rise.

People Most Affected:

2 billion people currently experiencing high water stress
Children
Future generations

1–2 billion people

may no longer have enough water if we hit a 2℃ increase in global temperature

(The World Bank)

The Right to Adequate Housing

All people are entitled to an adequate standard of living for themselves and their families, including adequate housing. The right is central to the enjoyment of all economic, social and cultural rights.

Impacts of Climate Change:

Poverty, livelihoods and sustainable development

Extreme weather can destroy homes, displacing millions of people.
Drought, erosion and flooding can gradually render territories uninhabitable, resulting in displacement and migration.

Cities, settlements and community infrastructure

Climate change-induced extreme weather poses risks to the right to adequate housing in urban settlements, smaller settlements and small islands.
Poor-quality and inappropriately located urban housing is often vulnerable to extreme weather.
Sea-level rise threatens houses in low-lying areas.
Lowland areas in coastal cities are usually more at risk of flooding, particularly when there is inadequate drainage infrastructure.

People Most Affected:

People lacking access to resilient or secure housing, including those displaced or living in homelessness, are the most affected by the climate crisis, as they often live in vulnerable areas subject to extreme weather, including floods, hurricanes and tsunamis.
Future generations

People in urban housing

will be at high risk for displacement by 2080–2100 due to a projected 2℃ global temperature increase that leads to extreme weather events on often poor-quality and inappropriately located urban housing.

(Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change)

Cultural Rights

Indigenous people have the right to maintain, control, protect and develop their cultural heritage, knowledge and expressions, including manifestations of their sciences, technologies and cultures.

Impacts of Climate Change:

Poverty, livelihoods and sustainable development

Many World Heritage sites are threatened by rising sea levels.
Indigenous peoples' traditional knowledge is both threatened by climate change and a reservoir of potential climate change adaptation and mitigation measures.

People Most Affected:

Indigenous peoples
Future generations of Indigenous peoples

~400 million Indigenous people

face threats to their rights to culture, as well as their collective rights to development and self-determination, due to their strong connection to nature

(UNHCR)

Mitigation and Adaptation Impacts

Since climate change is a human rights issue, we see that its harmful effects contribute to human mobility and displacement, which can lead to an increased risk of vulnerability and conflict. Extreme weather, which is becoming more frequent and intense with climate change, greatly affects displacement and often leads to an increase in displaced people.

Inclusive Climate Solutions

By integrating human rights within climate solutions, we’ll need an increased focus on effective, inclusive mitigation and adaptation strategies. Human rights must be considered when establishing climate policy, and those directly impacted by climate change must be part of the discussion to reach effective strategies for all.