The Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR) participated at the 2023 Geneva Dialogues on Human Rights and Climate Change held last 16 and 17 of May organised by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Center for International Environmental Law, Earthjustice, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Luxembourg, and the Geneva Environment Network.

This two day event convened a group of civil society organizations, indigenous rights activists, representatives of social movements and networks to evaluate the hard-fought gains, discuss the existing gaps and potential steps forwards for human rights mechanisms to tackle the climate emergency putting at risk the full range of rights internationally recognised. United Nations Special Procedures, treaty bodies, and the Human Rights Council have the opportunity and the mandate to shape specific recommendations on key issues related to the human rights implications of the climate crisis. This two day event had a twofold objective to advance the human rights agenda in the context of the climate emergency: 1) take stock and strategize between civil society organizations on the next steps to leverage human rights bodies and mechanisms to address the climate crisis, and 2) engage in dialogue with UN mandate holders to provide key insights and recommendations to influence climate policy and action.

The event was first organised in five hematic roundtables covering the issues related to remedy in the context of Loss and Damage; supporting a just transition; opposing the expansion of fossil fuels; protecting civic space; and preventing further harm potentially caused by false solutions to climate change. GI-ESCR participated moderating the roundtable on just transition and providing insights to craft specific recommendations to be presented before UN human rights bodies on how would a just transition aligned with human rights look like in practice. The results of this five thematic roundtables were later presented at a public event at the Palais de Nations with more than 40 States, 20 UN representatives from different human rights mechanisms and more than 25 civil society organizations.

You may watch the recording of the public event on this link

The results of the 2023 Geneva Dialogues on Climate Change and Human Rights will set the ground to follow up on relevant initiatives to push the frontiers of the human rights framework and ensure Geneva based human rights mechanisms are responsive to the needs of communities at the frontlines of the climate emergency.