The Human Impacts of Climate Change programme jointly made a submission to the UNFCCC’s Katowice Committee of Experts on the Impacts of the Implementation of Response Measures (KCI), working alongside colleagues from the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense (AIDA). The Committee – which features representatives from each of the five UN regional groups, one member from the least developed countries, one member from the small island developing States and two members from relevant intergovernmental organizations - was established in 2018 to produce work on the impacts – both positive and negative - of responses to climate change taken by different actors. QUNO has been an observer of KCI meetings throughout the course of these years, advocating for responses that take human rights into account.

The submission focused on the transition from fossil fuels-based energy consumption to renewable energy, advocating for a just energy transition in which resources are mobilised in such a way that reduces inequality and guarantees human rights. Specifically, the paper outlined the negative impacts on human rights of large-scale renewable energy projects that fail to consider their impact on the local communities and environment where they are being built. The paper discusses the alternative decentralised renewable energy systems (DRE), as an existent model for energy transitioning that is human rights compliant.  

The authors write that “[the climate response] requires costs, as well as benefits, to be fairly distributed to ensure the decarbonization of our energy system does not further exacerbate or entrench existing inequalities.” This submission aligns with QUNO’s ongoing advocacy for a climate response that is human rights-centred and which ensures climate justice.  

To read the full joint submission, click below.