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The COVID-19 Pandemic And Its Impact On Economic, Social And Cultural Rights

Centering economic and social rights and environmental protection, to tackle the intertwining crises of Covid-19, climate change and inequality

The Covid-19 pandemic and associated health and economic crises, have revealed the fault lines in our economic and political systems, which are producing intertwining crises of inequality, climate change and environmental destruction. The consequences of the pandemic have not been equal across our societies, as we saw for instance in India where millions of informal sector workers were forced to flee on foot to their home villages, when the lockdown abruptly eradicated their livelihoods and rendered them destitute.  Similarly, we have seen how the climate crisis has unequal impacts, which exacerbate racial, gender, socio-economic and other inequalities.

The political and economic systems that are reproducing inequalities are also driving the destruction of nature and climate change. Covid-19 has drawn attention to the fact that pandemics are a consequence of large-scale human destruction of nature, driven by an extractivist, growth-obsessed economic system. Those same systems, after years of austerity and privatization, have weakened the public health, social security, housing, education and food services and institutions, that are so crucial to tackling inequality and responding to pandemics and climate-induced disasters.

These intertwining and reinforcing crises are linked to our faulty political and economic systems which fail to prioritise human rights and which destroy nature and drive climate change. However, amongst the devastation, solutions and opportunities are also being illuminated, to ‘build back better’, by putting human rights at the centre, protecting the environment and investing in a just transition to a low-carbon regenerative economy.

Intertwining crises

Alongside the Covid-19 pandemic, climate-induced disasters and extreme weather have continued to wreak havoc in the Global South, adding to the burden of poor countries. Cyclone Nisarga struck Western India in early June, just weeks after Cyclone Amphan led to over 80 deaths in Eastern India and Bangladesh. Locust swarms, exacerbated by rising temperatures, are raging across the Global South, devastating crops and threatening food security and livelihoods. In May, the Red Cross warned that East Africa faced a complex ‘triple threat’ from the impact of the pandemic, locusts and flooding.

The temporary decline in pollution during lockdowns, reminded us that our extractivist economic system which prioritises growth and overconsumption is the root cause of these intertwining environmental crises. Further, the pandemic reminds us that human survival is dependent on the health of the planet and that future pandemics and climate disasters can only be avoided through embracing new systems that respect planetary boundaries. Despite this, there have been rollbacks in environmental protections, bail-outs for big polluters and a rise in land conflicts during the Covid-19 lockdowns, as illegal loggers, land grabbers and corporate interests take advantage of the oversight gap and the inability of indigenous peoples and local communities to protect their lands. Long-term political and societal change to address the underlying root causes is necessary.

Crises expose and exacerbate existing inequalities

What the Covid-19 and climate crises have in common, is that while they both have the potential to impact anyone, they do not impact everyone equally. In unequal societies, some are more vulnerable to crises than others due to unequal access to resources and power and discriminatory structures and stereotypes. The impacts of both Covid-19 and climate change have revealed both vertical inequality (between individuals) and horizontal inequality (between status groups), reinforcing long entrenched paths of discrimination and inequality based on caste, race, and gender and socio-economic situation.

The plight of persons living in poverty during the pandemic, such as those living in informal settlements, in over-crowded homes, with no access to potable water for hand washing, nor internet for online education, is a stark reminder of vertical inequality. Poor and marginalized communities are also more likely to live near polluting and extractive projects which cause respiratory health issues and make them more vulnerable to Covid-19. Similarly, climate-induced disasters and extreme weather disproportionately harm poor communities, especially in the Global South, who have contributed the least to the climate crisis. The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Extreme Poverty warned of a “climate apartheid”, with climate change threatening to push more than 120 million people into poverty by 2030.

The pandemic also reveals and exacerbates group-based inequality. According to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the pandemic is having a “disproportionate impact on racial and ethnic minorities” and increasing racial intolerance, such as in India, where conspiracy theories falsely implicated Muslims in disproportionately spreading the virus. Other UN human rights experts have highlighted the disproportionate harm to women and children, the elderly, internally displaced persons indigenous peoples, caused by Covid-19.

Investing in economic and social rights makes communities resilient

Prioritising economic and social rights is key to responding to these crises. Covid-19 shows us that when governments invest in economic and social rights through universal access to public healthcare, education, housing and social security, people are more resilient and able to cope in times of crises. Public services are also vital for countering economic inequality, through resource redistribution and ensuring universal access to essential services. This was the recent message of WHO, ILO and UN Human Rights experts who called on States to invest in universal healthcare and social protection systems.

For example, in the South Indian state of Kerala, a strong public health system proved essential to containing the virus. On the flipside, countries that had privatized public services were ill-equipped to respond to the crisis and some States even moved to nationalise, or temporarily commandeer private hospitals and health care services and railways to ensure their ability to guarantee essential services. 

Investing in economic and social rights also helps reduce vulnerability to other crises. An analysis of data from 130 countries over three decades on climate vulnerability found that “education (and in particular female education) is the single most important social and economic factor associated with a reduction in vulnerability to natural disasters.”

The way forward - rights, well-being and nature

The intertwining Covid-19, inequality and climate crises are jeopardising our collective future and particularly the lives of poor and marginalised communities. Continuing with business-as-usual and ignoring the converging crises, is no longer an option. This is a moment to reflect on the current economic model of growth and development, and to look to transformative alternatives that centre human rights and dignity and that value and protect nature. We can start by: recognising health, water, food, housing, social protection and education as rights, not commodities and investing in inequality-busting public services; tackling systemic discrimination; and taking ambitious rights-respecting climate action. We must collectively build transformative solutions based on rights and dignity to realize a just and equitable world for present and future generations.

Amani Ponnaganti is a researcher and activist working on socioeconomic rights and environmental justice in South Asia. She is currently a Programme Associate with Nazedeek, a legal empowerment organisation based in Delhi. 

Lucy McKernan is a human rights lawyer with over 20 years experience and she is currently the Geneva Representative for Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR).

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Climate and Environmental Justice

We have advanced rights-based and gender-transformative transition frameworks through research that centres the lived experiences of women and marginalised communities on the frontlines of extractive energy policies, promoting climate and energy frameworks attentive to the social and care-related impacts of transition pathways. We have developed a clear vision for a gender-just transition, firmly rooted in gender and human rights norms, establishing both the legal basis and the direction for the transformative changes our planet and societies urgently need. In particular, the ‘Guiding Principles for Gender Equality and Human Rights in the Energy Transition’, a collective effort built through online consultations, an in-person workshop and multiple rounds of revision with activists, practitioners and experts from around the world, outline a transformative vision for reshaping global energy systems through a human rights and gender equality lens.

Our work recognises that the climate emergency is both an existential threat and an opportunity to reimagine societies built on social, gender, economic and environmental justice. We ground our advocacy in feminist and intersectional principles, prioritising the agency and perspectives of communities in the Global South who have contributed the least to the climate emergency yet face its most devastating consequences. Central to our approach is the understanding that energy is not merely a commodity but a fundamental human right; essential for dignity, health, education, work and the realisation of countless other rights. We challenge approaches to the energy transition that risk replicating the harmful patterns of fossil fuel extraction and, instead, advocate for transformative policies that ensure human rights and gender equality as central to building climate-resilient societies rooted in dignity, justice and planetary well-being.

What's next?

We will continue to challenge approaches that treat energy transition as merely a technical shift, instead positioning it as an opportunity to reimagine economies and societies rooted in dignity for all, with particular attention to communities in the Global South who have contributed least to the climate emergency yet are most exposed to its worst effects.

We will connect community-level evidence and the lived experiences of those on the frontlines of extractive policies to national reform and global norm-setting, breaking down silos between human rights, gender, and climate movements, and advancing a shared vision that recognises just transitions as not only fundamental to achieving climate-resilient and sustainable societies, but as transformative pathways that advance social and gender equality, redistribute power and resources equitably, and ensure that energy systems serve the public good rather than profit.

We will mainstream rights-based and genderjust transition priorities in key multilateral spaces (particularly, within the Just Transition Work Programme and the to-be-developed Just Transition Mechanism, within the UNFCCC) to guarantee that just transitions are advanced at all levels.

We will also translate our work, through strategic advocacy, into at least two concrete policy wins, whether promoted, adopted, implemented, or scaled, in priority countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Colombia, South Africa, or Kenya), ensuring these policies align with human rights standards, centre gender equality, and reflect the needs and views of affected communities.

We will build momentum for the progressive recognition of the right to sustainable energy to shift dominant narratives away from purely extractive solutions that sideline gendered impacts, community participation, and Global South perspectives.

Economic Justice and Climate Finance

Our work has transformed the global discussion on fiscal policy in a more just, emancipatory and sustainable direction. Our approach has combined both high-level, expert contributions within decisionmaking circles, with bold, impactful work on narrative change with the general public.

We have been instrumental in the inclusion of human rights as a guiding principle of the future United Nations Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation, a multilateral instrument with the potential of raising approx. USD 492 billion per year in public revenues currently foregone to global tax abuse. In the process leading to the ‘Compromiso de Sevilla’ decided at FfD4, we proposed and succeeded in creating a specific human rights workstream within the Civil Society Financing for Development Mechanism, which was critical to ensure that explicit commitments on the matter were included in the negotiating outcome. In a context of cutbacks in multilateral institutions, we have amplified the capacities of technical experts, providing rigorous technical support and leveraging our influence to ensure the enactments of groundbreaking standard-setting instruments, such as the 2025 UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Statement on Fiscal Policy and Human Rights, and the first ex oficio hearing on the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights on Fiscal and Economic Policies to Address Poverty and Structural Inequality, leading to an upcoming thematic resolution on the matter. We have also bridged the silos between multilateral tax discussions and climate finance debates, promoting ambitious financing commitments to increase international and domestic resource mobilisation during COP 28, 29 and 30.

At the regional level, our engagement with fiscal cooperation platforms such as the Platform for Fiscal Cooperation of Latin America and the Caribbean (PTLAC), where we are member of its Civil Society Consultative Council, and the African Anti-IFFs Policy Tracker, for which we participated in the pilot mission in Ivory Coast together with Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA), have been critical in cementing a growing engagement between tax administrations and ministries of finance with international legal experts, exploring actionable and transformative initiatives, such as the taxation of high-net-worth individuals, beneficial ownership registries and corporate countryby-country reports, to be implemented at the international level.

At the local level, our interventions in fiscal reform debates in Chile, Brazil, Colombia and Nigeria have contributed to shaping legislative outcomes in a more progressive, rights-compliant direction.

As for our leadership in narrative change, we have a measurable track record in delivering tailored, innovative campaigns which have decisively expanded economic justice constituencies by appealing to a broader tent. In Latin America and the Caribbean, we created the ‘Date Cuenta’ campaign, coordinating over 40 organisations across civil society to deliver plain language, innovative messaging connecting progressive fiscal reforms to the financing of health, education and social protection. ‘Date Cuenta’ generated over 55 original campaign messages that were tailored to the realities of seven priority countries (Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and Honduras) and disseminated in Spanish, Portuguese and English. In doing so, we convened more than 65 online co-creation workshops with partners, coordinating a unified communications strategy which combined digital outreach, press and media coverage, and collaboration with influencers. Ultimately, ‘Date Cuenta’ resulted in more than 60,000 interactions on social media, coverage in major regional and international media outlets, including El País, Deutsche Welle, Bloomberg and France 24, and the participation of at least 63 social media influencers through 58 dedicated publications. In collaboration with Fundación Gabo and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, we also organised a two-day workshop in Bogota with 20 journalists from 13 countries, building a regional network trained in a human rights-based approach to fiscal policy that has since generated published media coverage on outlets such as La Diaria, Ciper, El Diario Ar and Milenio. Through ‘Date Cuenta’ and our regional advocacy, we strengthened civil society engagement in key processes, including the Financing for Development track and FfD4, co-organised highlevel dialogues with states and civil society from Latin America and Africa.

What's next?

We will shape the UN Tax Convention and its Protocols so they embed human rights principles, and we will stay engaged through follow-up processes (including the expected Conference of the Parties) to support effective implementation. We will keep linking tax and climate finance so that new resources mobilised through fiscal cooperation are channelled to adaptation, mitigation, and loss and damage, in line with UNFCCC commitments.

Public Services for Care Societies

We have translated participatory research into accountability and policy outcomes.

In Ivory Coast, our work with Mouvement Ivoirien des Droits Humains and affected communities since 2023 exposed how privatisation and lack of accountability restrict access to quality healthcare. It contributed to the closure of 1,022 illegal private health centres, an executive instrument strengthening the regulation of private hospitals across the country, and the creation of a permanent complaints management committee in healthcare through a bylaw issued by the prefect of Gagnoa. Partners engaged through this process also advanced concrete improvements at facility level: members of the Gagnoa Midwives Association who took part in the participatory action research pooled resources to renovate the neonatal unit of the Regional Hospital, and the Director of the Gagnoa General Hospital launched an action plan to expand services and improve patient reception, with the facility receiving the award for best hospital in the country in 2025.

In Kenya, our research with the Mathare Education Taskforce documented the absence of public schools and the expansion of private provision, evidencing impacts on households and caregivers and strengthening demands for free, quality public education. This work contributed to stronger community agency and collective organisation, alongside ongoing strategies ranging from communications to litigation to secure a public school in the area, some involving GI-ESCR and others led independently.

Across Africa, this work is complemented by a multi-country study examining the human rights implications of austerity in education and health, including how regressive fiscal policies, rising debt burdens and persistent underinvestment undermine the financing and delivery of public services.

In Latin America, from 29 November to 2 December 2021, over a thousand representatives from over one hundred countries, from grassroots movements, advocacy, human rights, and development organisations, feminist movements, trade unions, and other civil society organisations, met in Santiago, Chile, and virtually, to discuss the critical role of public services for our future. Following the meeting, the Santiago Declaration on Public Services was adopted to demand universal access to quality, gender-transformative and equitable public services as the foundation of a fair and just society.

We are currently advancing work on care systems, linking public services and fiscal justice through integrated research, advocacy and communications, including a regional campaign framing care as a collective responsibility requiring sustained public investment.

What's next?

In Ivory Coast, we will evaluate and strengthen the complaints management committee and position it as a replicable model for other health facilities. In Kenya, we will support the Mathare community to co-design a model public school for Mabatini and Ngei wards, grounded in human rights standards. Building on our multi-country austerity study, we will drive national advocacy on financing for education and health: advancing reforms in Ghana; launching a fiscal policy and public services financing agenda in Kenya through the CESCR process and targeted coalition work; and, in Nigeria, using the new tax acts in force since 1 January 2026 to catalyse a national accountability campaign for adequately funded, quality public services. In Latin America, we will amplify locally led care pilots across 8 countries and turn lessons into influence—advancing care policies that strengthen care organisations, protect care workers’ rights, support unpaid caregivers, include disability and family networks, and redistribute care more equitably.