Statement by His Excellency Silvano M. Tomasi
Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United
Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva
at the 28th Session of the Human Rights
Council
Item – 1 Full-Day Discussion On Human Rights &
Climate Change
(HRC res. 26/27)
(HRC res. 26/27)
6 March 2015
The Holy See is encouraged by the growing efforts to
address global climate change initiated by a variety of Stakeholders.
There is increased evidence that the poorest people in
the more vulnerable countries will bear most of the burden of adapting to
climate change consequences which they had almost no role in creating[1].
As we look toward the 2015 United Nations Climate
Change Conference in Paris, we are offered a significant opportunity to make
two ethical decisions. Firstly, the
nations of the world need to commit themselves to curbing carbon emissions at a
minimum level to avoid dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate
system; and secondly, the nations of the world must sufficiently fund
adaptation measures needed by vulnerable nations and peoples to withstand the
impacts of climate change. Our concern
for the common good of the planet, and for humanity, urges us to recognize our
sense of interdependence with both nature and one another. No one is exempt from either the impacts of
climate change or our moral responsibility to act in solidarity with one
another to address this global concern.
We believe that such decisions will demonstrate
humankind’s commitment to showing respect for the environment, for those who
suffer the most, and for the sake of present and future generations. While science continues to research the full
implications of climate change, the virtue of prudence calls us to take the
responsibility to act to reduce the potential damages, particularly for those
individuals who live in poverty, for those who live in very vulnerable climate
impact areas, and for future generations.
As Pope Francis underlined, “The effective struggle against global
warming will only be possible with a responsible collective answer, that goes
beyond particular interests and behavior and is developed free of political and
economic pressures … On climate change, there is a clear,
definitive and ineluctable ethical imperative to act … The
establishment of an international climate change treaty is a grave
ethical and moral responsibility.”[2]
Mr. President,
Solidarity with the most vulnerable nations and
peoples that are experiencing the impact of climate change in a more prominent
and immediate way impels us to contribute to improving their situation and
defending their right to development. Poverty and climate change are now
intimately linked. Strategies to address
the first need to take into account the latter and vice-versa.
In fact, poor people living in developing countries
are particularly vulnerable given their disproportionate dependency on
climate-sensitive resources for their food and livelihoods[3].
The Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food has documented how extreme climate
events are increasingly threatening livelihoods and food security. Indeed, an estimated 600 million people will
face malnutrition due to climate change, with increasing malnutrition rates in
South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa in particular.[4]
Moreover, the proliferation of
floods and storms and the rising of the sea level are showing some of the
effects that climate change will have also on the human right to adequate
housing. The erosion of livelihoods, partly caused by climate change, is a main
“push” factor for increasing
rural to urban migration. Many will move to urban slums and informal
settlements where they will be forced to build shelters in hazardous areas.[5]
Already today, an estimated one billion people live in urban slums, on fragile
hillsides or flood-prone river banks, which are acutely vulnerable to extreme
climate events.
As we continue to
search for viable solutions, we know that the path to a more just and
sustainable future is complex and often uncertain. In our collective work to
address global climate change, the Holy See is committed to working with all
people of good will and it pledges its support for efforts that advance the
common good, respect for human dignity and a special care for the most
vulnerable.
The Holy See hopes as well that the pledged contributions
to the Green Climate Fund will continue to increase so as to enable the most
vulnerable nations to mitigate, and adapt to, the effect of climate change more
effectively. Finally, the continuing and
deepening collaboration and engagement of civil society and the private sector
is a welcome sign. All of these measures
should improve the chances for meaningful and constructive steps to address
climate change at the forthcoming Paris Conference. The expected
new agreement should embody binding measures of responsibility and solidarity
for an effective action by the international community to address together the
threats resulting from climate change. Climate change is, in fact, an issue of
justice for everyone. The new instrument should rest on that justice, which
must guide our deliberations in the weeks to come. Both developed and
developing countries have a responsibility to protect: they constitute the one
human family of this earth with an equal mandate to manage and protect creation
in a responsible manner to ensure that also our future generations find a world
that allows them to flourish.
[1] As pointed out by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), “In
the Netherlands, people are investing in homes that can float on water. The
Swiss Alpine ski industry is investing in artificial snow-making machines,” but
“[i]n the Horn of Africa, ‘adaptation’ means that women and young girls walk
further to collect water.” In the Ganges and Mekong Deltas, “people are
erecting bamboo flood shelters on stilts” and “planting mangroves to protect
themselves against storm surges.”
[2] Message of Pope Francis to the President of COP 20 under the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
[3] IPCC AR4 WG II, p. 359. United Nations Millennium Project 2005, Halving
Hunger: It Can Be Done, Task Force on Hunger, p. 66. Furthermore, according to
the Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur on the right to food, “half of the
world’s hungry people … depend for their survival on lands which are inherently poor and which
may be becoming less fertile and less productive as a result of the impacts of
repeated droughts, climate change and unsustainable land use” (A/HRC/7/5, para.
51).
[4]
http://www.ifpri.org/
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