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Using a human rights lens to understand and address loss and damage

Nature Climate Change volume 13, pages 1334–1339 (2023)Cite this article

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Abstract

The Vanuatu government is seeking an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on the legal responsibility of countries to act on climate change. This will provide clarity on loss and damage finance and could catalyse powerful legal tools that hold polluters accountable. Human rights can be a valuable framing for calling attention to and addressing loss and damage, but there remains limited scholarship so far. Here we explore how climate change is impinging on the rights of Ni-Vanuatu and what can be done in response. Our findings show that loss and damage to fundamental rights is already occurring and will worsen, undermining the right to a life of dignity. The future loss and damage fund, and other initiatives, should integrate a human rights restoration package that includes recording and safeguarding Indigenous knowledge, promoting cultural continuity, restoring the socio-ecological system, building back better and investing in education.

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Fig. 1: An infographic summarising how climate change impinges on human rights.
Fig. 2: Five key approaches for addressing the impacts of climate change on people’s human rights.

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The data that support the findings of this study are not publicly available due to them containing information that would compromise research participant confidentiality and anonymity.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the participants for providing such valuable and important insights in this study. Without you, this study would not have been possible. This research was funded through an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship grant (grant number FT190100114) and by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and External Trade, Republic of Vanuatu.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of the Environment, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

    Karen E. McNamara & Rachel Clissold

  2. International Centre for Environmental Management, Hanoi, Vietnam

    Rachel Clissold

  3. Climate Action Beacon and Griffith Institute for Tourism, Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

    Ross Westoby

  4. Vanuatu Climate Action Network, Port Vila, Vanuatu

    Stephanie Stephens, George Koran & Willy Missack

  5. Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, Port Vila, Vanuatu

    Stephanie Stephens

  6. Oxfam Vanuatu, Port Vila, Vanuatu

    George Koran

  7. Learn to Serve Vanuatu, Port Vila, Vanuatu

    Willy Missack

  8. Department of Climate Change, Vanuatu Government, Port Vila, Vanuatu

    Christopher Y. Bartlett

Authors
  1. Karen E. McNamara
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  2. Rachel Clissold
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  3. Ross Westoby
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  4. Stephanie Stephens
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  5. George Koran
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  6. Willy Missack
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  7. Christopher Y. Bartlett
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Contributions

K.E.M., R.C., R.W. and C.Y.B. conceived and designed the research. K.E.M., R.C., R.W., S.S., G.K. and W.M. collected data. K.E.M., R.C. and R.W. analysed data. K.E.M., R.C., R.W. and C.Y.B. wrote the article.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Karen E. McNamara.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Nature Climate Change thanks Ma. Laurice Jamero, Beate M. W. Ratter, Tony Weir and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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McNamara, K.E., Clissold, R., Westoby, R. et al. Using a human rights lens to understand and address loss and damage. Nat. Clim. Chang. 13, 1334–1339 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-023-01831-0

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