What is the impact of climate change on the right to food?
Climate change threatens the ability of entire regions to feed themselves. Experts from the International Panel on Climate Change have demonstrated the massive impacts of climate change and associated climate disruptions on agricultural systems worldwide – unpredictable rain patterns, expanding droughts and floods - consequently affecting food security.
Climate change has become a cross-cutting issue in the work of the Special Rapporteur. Urgent action is therefore needed to link climate change efforts with the realization of the right to food. There is an urgent need to build food systems that not only have minimal greenhouse gas emissions but are also resilient to extreme climate conditions. At both the national and international levels, we must also rapidly create a framework for climate change mitigation and adaptation measures.
These questions were included in his report “Building resilience” presented to the Human Rights Council in September 2008; in his March 2009 report on the WTO; and in his March 2011 report on the potential of agroecology. The Special Rapporteur has also addressed climate change and sustainable development in contributions to the Rio+20 process (2012) and the post-2015 development agenda (2013).
| Read | 26/09/2013: "Wake up Before It Is Too Late," Make agriculture truly sustainable now for food security in a changing climate Report prepared for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Trade and Environment review 2013. | Read | 15/04/2013: 'Rights' section co-authored by the Special Rapporteur from 'A New Dialogue : Putting People at the Heart of Global Development', prepared for the Dublin Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Climate Justice (15-16 April). |
| Read | Guardian (United Kingdom) — Climate change is a human rights issue – and that's how we can solve it (24-04-2012) |
| Read | Guardian (United Kingdom) — Human rights and accountability will ensure the road to Rio isn't a dead end (27-03-2012) |
| Read | 14/03/2012: An Open Letter from Special Procedures mandate-holders of the Human Rights Council to States negotiating the Outcome Document of the Rio+20 Summit “If Rio+20 is to deliver, accountability must be at its heart”, also available in French, and Spanish. |
| Read | 14/03/2012: Background note to the Open Letter from Special Procedures mandate-holders of the Human Rights Council to States negotiating the Outcome Document of the Rio+20 Summit “Human rights essential role for sustainable development”, also available in French, and Spanish. |
| Read | 14/03/2012: Background note to the Open Letter from Special Procedures mandate-holders of the Human Rights Council to States negotiating the Outcome Document of the Rio+20 Summit “The right to food as a global goal”. |
| Read | The Sunday Times (South Africa) — Tackling food crisis (08-12-2011) |
| Read | The Ecologist (Intl) — Food security has jumped up the agenda at Durban climate conference (08-12-2011) |
| Read | 08/03/2011: “Agroecology and the Right to Food”, Report presented at the 16th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council [A/HRC/16/49], also available in French, Spanish, Chinese, Russianand Portuguese, (translation made available by the Brazilian 'Câmara Interministerial de Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional'). |
| Read | Press release: “Cancun Climate Summit: UN food expert calls for a Green Marshall Plan for Agriculture” (29 November 2010). |
| Read | Op-ed: “It's time to tackle climate change and agricultural development in tandem”, The Guardian (16 October 2010). |
| Read | “Climate change and the human right to adequate food”, Contribution of the Special Rapporteur on the right to food to the meeting convened by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung with the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Geneva (13 May 2010). |
| Read | Press release: “Climate change, a ticking time bomb for global food security” (December 2009) |
| Read | Foreword of the report “Climate Change and The Right to Food. A Comprehensive Study” (3 pages, published by the Heinrich Böll Foundation, 2009) |
| Read | Summary of the report “Climate Change and The Right to Food. A Comprehensive Study” (10 pages, published by the Heinrich Böll Foundation, 2009) |
| Read | Report “Climate Change and The Right to Food. A Comprehensive Study” (155 pages, published by the Heinrich Böll Foundation, 2009) |
| Read | Joint statement of the U.N. human rights experts on the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference (December 2009) |
| YouTube | Video message of the Special Rapporteur |
| Read | Report “Building Resilience: a human rights framework for world food and nutrition security'” presented to the Human Rights Council (September 2008) |
| Read | Report on the Mission to the WTO |