Key To Human Rights is Fixing Climate Wrongs

Effective action on climate change – caused mainly by the privileged and impacting more and more devastatingly on the deprived – is becoming central to a just as well as a sustainable world, WWF International Director General James Leape told an emergency human rights congress in London today.

And action on climate change will not be effective unless it is also fair, Mr Leape told the congress convened under the patronage of noted Human Rights barrister Cherie Blair and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The congress will develop guidelines for protecting human rights during the reshaping of world economies.

“We have a clear correlation between climate wrongs and human rights,” said Mr Leape. “Those who are most impoverished, most marginalised and whose rights are least respected are also those who depend most on their environment for subsistence.

“Those deep in forests under assault, on the fringes of floodplains or shores of coral seas count heavily among those who will suffer the most from climate change, will have the least power in the negotiations and who will need the most support as we go through this year to the Copenhagen Climate conference.”

Mr Leape said WWF's work in the field was showing up other correlations – that action to preserve, repair and restore the functioning of forests, water catchments and coasts now was what would best protect those areas and their people from the climate change impacts coming.

“We see this most graphically, if tragically, in the case of disasters,” Mr Leape said. “The communities conserving their mangroves and inshore reefs are those that have suffered least from waves and storms and will suffer least from the more severe and more frequent storms to come. It is the rivers with functioning wetlands that best absorb floods and have the reserves needed in dry spells.”

Mr Leape urged congress organisers and attendees to add their voices to the pressure on Copenhagen climate decision-makers to take bold action to reduce emissions in OECD countries, and to provide robust funding to developing countries for low-carbon development, for reducing deforestation,and for adaptation.

The leaders of the world’s most powerful countries - in the G20 and the G8 – need to commit to approaches that recognise the rights of indigenous peoples and forest communities during the forthcoming climate negotiations Mr Leape said.