Climate and Rights

ACTIVITIES

Participation in the negotiation sessions open to observers to monitor the integration of human rights principles within the negotiating texts.

Organization of side events at the climate negotiations on the intersection between climate and human rights with the participation of international experts and stakeholders.

Participation in the action of the Women and Gender Constituency, including plenary intervantions, drafting of policy proposals and advocacy support.

Analysis of the negotiations' progress and its implications in terms of social and environmental safeguards for discriminated groups and minorities.

Started as an in-depth column for Italian Climate Network in 2015, the “Women, Rights and Climate” initiative has evolved into the Climate and Rights Section. The working group made up of young volunteers and ICN team members is coordinated by Chiara Soletti, Policy Advisor and expert in human rights and climate intersectionality; for years she has been carrying out activities aimed at analyzing the link between climate change and human rights, with a particular focus on gender issues.

“That climate change does not affect people equally is well known. Women and men perceive and experience it in different ways because of cultural expectations towards their gender. The roles, responsibilities and rights assigned to women too often translate into a reality that, in dealing with the consequences of climate change, can limit their chances of survival. (…) For these reasons, a gender perspective focused on respect for human rights is a key part of the solution to make climate action inclusive and find effective solutions to collectively address this phenomenon without leaving anyone behind.”

Chiara Soletti

Thanks to the Section’s work, in 2017 Italian Climate Network became an official member of the Women and Gender Constituency and contributing to human rights advocacy initiatives within the UNFCCC. In 2018, it also began participating in the Inter-constituencies Human Rights Advocacy Working Group, an informal working group that operates within the UNFCCC with the aim of promoting the integration of human rights principles within the negotiating texts discussed during the COPs, through an agenda shared across different civil society Constituencies. With the intention of expanding ICN’s work on rights and climate beyond the UNFCCC, the Section oversaw the application to the United Nations Economic and Social Rights Council (UN ECOSOC). The accreditation approved in 2019 and gave ICN access to areas traditionally devoted to human rights, sustainable development, and the environment where the impacts of climate change and the solutions to them are also increasingly being discussed.

Among the achievements of the Climate and Rights Section in recent years are:

Monitoring and analysis of the UNFCCC negotiations since 2015 (COP21, COP22, COP23, COP24, COP25, COP26 + intersessionals) alongside outreach and reporting activities (50+ articles)
Participation in the advocacy work of the Women and Gender Constituency and the Inter-constituencies Human Rights Advocacy Working Group that led to the integration of Human rights in the Paris Agreement and subsequent negotiating texts for its implementation (Paris Agreement Rule Book) and the adoption of the Gender Action Plan (GAP) during UNFCCC COP23 (2017)
Spokesperson for the Women and Gender Constituency at the closing plenary of UNFCCC COP23 (2017), at the question-time with the COP24 Presidency (2018), and during the transparency session of the 2021 mid-term negotiations (SB52)
Organization of side-events at the UNFCCC including:
- Voluntary offsets: social and environmental benefits of the Faircarbon proposal / UNFCCC COP21 (2015)
- Protecting Human Rights, Health and Gender Equality from Climate Change / UNFCCC COP23 (2017)
- Youth engagement in climate action in the Mediterranean / UNFCCC COP23 (2017)
- ACE in action: examples of youth leadership on climate change education and awareness creation / UNFCCC SB46 (2017)
- Climate change impacts and the human right to water / UNFCCC COP24 (2018)
Reached 2000+ students with lesson on Rights and Climate for Italian Climate Network’s School Project
Participated in 50+ webinars, events and interviews on human rights and climate issues, including the recent OK!Clima training initiative (2022)
Drafted and published contribution “Transition from a gender perspective” for AltraEconomia’s publication “What is the Ecological Transition” (2021)
Monitoring UN Enviromental Assembly-5, UN Partnership Forum, Commission on the Status of Women (CSW66), UN ECOSOC Youth Forum, UN ECOSOC High Level Political Forum (2022).