Baku, November 7, 2024 – Lawyers without Borders Canada (LWB Canada) is taking part in the 29th United Nations Convention on Climate Change (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan, from November 11 to 22, 2024. On this occasion, LWB Canada will raise its voice to ensure that the rights of people in vulnerable situations are better protected, and that the inherent link between climate degradation and human rights violations around the world is recognized.
It’s time to act. Unusually intense climate phenomena claim thousands of victims every year, destroying crops, homes and important infrastructure, disproportionately affecting populations in vulnerable situations. The climate crisis compromises fundamental rights such as the right to life, to health, to a healthy environment and to drinking water.
During the COP29, LWB Canada is organizing a side event with Anti-Slavery International on the themes of reparations and climate justice, using human trafficking as a poignant example of how climate-related displacement and political or economic instability exacerbate human rights violations.
To ensure that human rights are respected in the context of climate change, ASF Canada recommends:
-Prioritize support and access for human-rights centered, gender transformative climate actions focusing on just transition and intergenerational justice.
-Ensure that climate action is consistent with existing human rights instruments, obligations, standards, and principles. States and other duty-bearers must ensure due diligence and guarantee effective remedies for human rights violations caused by climate change.
-Accelerate the operationalization of the Fund for responding to Loss and Damage, ensuring a victim-centered approach, gender mainstreaming, transformative reparations and inclusive participation, and making sure that rights holders have a voice in matters that affect them.
-Ensure the full implementation of international agreements such as the Escazú Agreement and Human Rights Council Resolution 40/11 that provide critical frameworks for protecting environmental human rights defenders (EHRDs) with a specific focus on women and indigenous defenders.
-Support initiatives that enhance legal empowerment for individuals and communities affected by climate change by providing access to legal resources, enabling them to assert their rights and seek climate justice.
Media contact
Me Karine Ruel, Director of Legal Affairs, will be available for interviews and comments.
Contact isabelle.bourassa@asfcanada.ca for interview requests.
About LWB Canada
Lawyers Without Borders Canada is an international cooperation organization that, for over 20 years, has been contributing to the implementation of the human rights of people in vulnerable situations by strengthening access to justice and legal representation