Development, Climate Change and Human Rights from the Margins to the Mainstream?

Since 2005, a growing number of vulnerable communities and nations have used the human rights lexicon to argue their case for an urgent and ambitious response to climate change. The purpose of this Social Development Department Working paper is to examine the emergence of a new discourse linking climate change and human rights, and to assess its social and political implications, particularly as they relate to development practitioners. The scope of this paper is to explore what relevance this new discourse has on what David Kennedy calls the 'vocabularies, expertise, and sensibilities' of development practitioners (Kennedy 2005). The methodology for this paper involved interviews with academics and policy practitioners who have shaped this emerging discourse; a wide-ranging literature review of texts relevant to the fields of development, climate change and human rights; discussions with development professionals who have the daily responsibility of operationalizing approaches to reducing vulnerability and building resilience; and finally drawing upon the author's own experience leading the Maldives' government's initiative on the Human Dimensions of Climate Change and as a consultant within the Social Dimensions of Climate Change Cluster of the World Bank's Social Development Department. It is important to stress that this paper is not a legal piece. Human rights are as much about ethical demands, calls for social justice, public awareness, advocacy, and political action as they are concerned with legal norms and rules. Sen has pointed out a 'theory of human rights cannot be sensibly confined within the juridical model in which it is frequently incarcerated' (Sen 2004, 319). Consequently this piece will focus on the wider, political economy aspects of the interface between human rights and climate change. It is further appropriate to state that this is not an advocacy piece. The paper deliberately avoids being normative or prescriptive in recommending a human rights-based approach to developing climate change operations. It does examine why vulnerable populations chose to embrace this approach, why they continue to view it as a transformative strategy, and what some of the successes and challenges have been.

Bibliographic Details

Main Author:	Cameron, Edward
Format:	Working Paper biblioteca
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2011-03
Subjects:	ADEQUATE HEALTH CARE, ADVERSE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE, APPROACH TO CLIMATE CHANGE, ATMOSPHERE, BIODIVERSITY, CAPACITY BUILDING, CARBON SINKS, CASH CROPS, CITIZENS, CITIZENSHIP, CLIMATE, CLIMATE CHANGE, CLIMATE CHANGE ANALYSIS, CLIMATE CHANGE DEBATE, CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS, CLIMATE CHANGE POLICY, CLIMATE CHANGE REGIME, CLIMATE CHANGE RESPONSES, CLIMATE CHANGE VULNERABILITY, CLIMATE IMPACTS, CLIMATE REGIME, CLIMATE SCIENCE, CLIMATE STABILIZATION, CLIMATE SYSTEM, CLIMATE-RELATED EVENTS, CONFRONTING CLIMATE CHANGE, CONVERGENCE, CORAL REEFS, CULTURAL RIGHTS, CYCLE OF POVERTY, CYCLONES, DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE, DEVELOPMENT INTERVENTIONS, DEVELOPMENT PLANNING, DEVELOPMENT POLICY, DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES, DIRECT IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE, DISABILITY, DISASTERS, DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN, DISEASES, DIVERGENCE, DRAFT RESOLUTION, DROUGHT, ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS, ECONOMICS OF CLIMATE CHANGE, ECOSYSTEM, EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, EMISSIONS, EMISSIONS FROM DEFORESTATION, EMISSIONS FROM LAND USE, EMISSIONS FROM LAND USE CHANGE, ENFORCEMENT MECHANISMS, ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION, ETHNIC CLEANSING, EXPOSURE TO CLIMATE RISKS, EXTREME WEATHER, EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS, FLOODS, FOOD PRODUCTION, FOREST, FOREST CONSERVATION, FOREST DEGRADATION, FORESTRY, FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION, FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE, FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS, FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT, GENDER DISCRIMINATION, GENDER INEQUALITIES, GLOBAL AVERAGE TEMPERATURE, GLOBAL CLIMATE, GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE, GLOBAL COMPACT, GLOBAL GREENHOUSE GAS, GLOBAL GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS, GLOBAL TEMPERATURE, GLOBAL WARMING, GOOD GOVERNANCE, GREENHOUSE, GREENHOUSE GAS, GREENHOUSE GAS CONCENTRATIONS, GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS, HEALTH CARE, HEALTH RISKS, HUMAN BEINGS, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, HUMAN DIMENSIONS, HUMAN HEALTH, HUMAN LIFE, HUMAN RIGHT, HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS, HUMAN SECURITY, HUMAN SETTLEMENTS, HUMIDITY, HURRICANES, IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE, IMPLICATIONS OF CLIMATE CHANGE, INCIDENCE OF POVERTY, INDIGENOUS PEOPLES, INDIGENOUS POPULATIONS, INFANT, INFANT MORTALITY, INFORMED CONSENT, INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE, INTERNATIONAL BORDERS, INTERNATIONAL CLIMATE CHANGE AGREEMENTS, INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS, INTERNATIONAL COVENANT, INTERNATIONAL FORESTRY RESEARCH, INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS, INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS, INTERNATIONAL LAW, LAND USE, LIVING CONDITIONS, LOW-CARBON, MALARIA, MENTAL HEALTH, METHANE, MIGRATION, MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS, MINORITY, MOVEMENT OF PEOPLE, NATIONAL CLIMATE, NATIONAL POLICY, NATIONAL SECURITY, NATURAL DISASTERS, NUMBER OF DEATHS, NUMBER OF PEOPLE, PESTICIDES, POLICY MAKERS, POLICY REGIME, POLITICAL ACTION, POLITICAL RIGHTS, POOR HEALTH, POPULATION DENSITY, PRACTITIONERS, PRECIPITATION, PREVENTABLE DISEASES, PROGRESS, PUBLIC AFFAIRS, PUBLIC AWARENESS, PUBLIC OPINION, PUBLIC SERVICES, PUBLIC SUPPORT, RAIN, RAINFALL, RAINFALL PATTERNS, REGIONAL AGREEMENTS, RESILIENCE TO CLIMATE CHANGE, RESOURCE ALLOCATION, RESPECT, RESPONSE TO CLIMATE CHANGE, RIGHT TO LIFE, RIGHTS PERSPECTIVE, RURAL WOMEN, SAFE DRINKING WATER, SEA LEVEL, SEA LEVEL RISE, SECURITY OF PERSON, SOCIAL COHESION, SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, SOCIAL DIMENSIONS, SOCIAL DIMENSIONS OF CLIMATE CHANGE, SOCIAL JUSTICE, SOCIAL PROBLEMS, SOCIAL SYSTEMS, SOCIAL UNREST, SOCIETAL VULNERABILITY TO CLIMATE CHANGE, SOIL EROSION, SPECIES, SPONSORS, STORM SURGES, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, TEMPERATURE, TEMPERATURE INCREASE, TEMPERATURE RISES, THREAT OF CLIMATE CHANGE, TREATIES, TREATY, TROPICAL STORMS, TUBERCULOSIS, UNEMPLOYMENT, VULNERABILITY, VULNERABILITY TO CLIMATE CHANGE, VULNERABLE GROUPS, VULNERABLE POPULATIONS, WAR, WATER SALINITY, WEATHER CONDITIONS, WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY, WORKFORCE,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/868991468330311558/Development-climate-change-and-human-rights-from-the-margins-to-the-mainstream https://hdl.handle.net/10986/27308
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