Climate Change and Human Rights

School students who are deciding not to attend classes and instead take part in demonstrations to demand action to prevent further global warming and climate change.

Image: Amnesty International

Do you think the claim by indigenous peoples of the Arctic that climate change is a human rights abuse is a valid claim?

26 Responses

  1. alec says:

    No, because people still have the right to get food. They can also have the right to get water and shelter. And I also don’t see how climate change can affect people’s right to get an education.

    • alec says:

      I disagree with some parts and agree with other parts. The parts that I disagree with are the fact they are saying that they can’t get food in some seasons. I agree with what is said in article 8 that they may be forced to leave and abandon some of their culture. I agree that they do have the right to revive their culture. I feel that people don’t have the right to their own political, economic, and social systems. I do agree that people have the right to improve their economic, and social well-being. I also agree that they don’t really have the right to own and develop their own land and resources. I also agree that since global warming they have shrinking land which means less use for spiritual relationships with their land. And I feel that they don’t have the governments help with keeping their land safe and stable.

  2. olivia says:

    Yes. As the Earth dries more and more less people will have access to clean water and safe healthy food, due to changes in growing season ect. One repercussion will be less girls in school. As water drys up more girls in Africa and maybe other parts of the world will have to walk even father to find clean water for their families, this takes them from the classroom and will lead to set backs for their entire lives. As growing season change and food becomes more scarce and more expensive, wealthier countries will not see food shortages as soon as poor countries. This will lead to mass starvation in some parts of the world and normalcy in others.

    • Olivia says:

      I am still of the opinion that climate change is a human rights issue. The indigenous peoples of the arctic will loss their rights to cultural preservation when they are forced to move. They are losing their rights to be free from assimilation as they become more reliant on government aid, which is not taking culture into account. Not to mention the rights to food and water which they will have less and less access to. With the melting of the arctic, ancestral hunting will have to change. Different foods and loss of these rituals will both lead to loss and change in culture.

  3. Ally says:

    Climate change is a human rights abuse. Every one should have the right to clean water, clean food and shelter. A lot of times these issues are present for those of a lower class and/or minorities and is deemed as political but for these people it can mean surviving.

    • Ally says:

      based on my previous statement I still agree that climate change abuse upon some groups of indigenous people is a dismal of their human rights. As the numbers of deer and fish decrease because of overhunting
      as well as the abuse to their natural resources from other people such as pipelines this disrupts the quality of life on their land. As some indigenous people are making the tough decision to move to urban life others are demanding help from higher governments for help. These indigenous people do not want to leave their sacred lands and homes and do not want to assimilate.

  4. Frank says:

    I think that it is a valid claim because it is slowly making their food source disappear. It’s also making their home warmer when they are used to the cold it affects everything around them. it’s affecting the wildlife and the crops.

    • Frank says:

      I agree with the claim because the indigenous peoples are slowly getting there homes taken away and the government is barely trying to help. The indigenous people’s that live in Alaska are trying to stay where they are for as long as possible but the government is giving them no funding and no help. They are trying to adapt but it’s hard for them to do that.

  5. Raegan says:

    Climate change is a global human rights issue because it can bring upon issues such as the decline and destruction of crops, the dirtying of drinkable water, flooding, severe storms, and the destruction of homes. Climate change, therefore, cuts off many people’s right to things such as food and water, and the changes it brings are global. Many people will be affected by the effects of climate change. The people of the arctic face, as well as many indigenous people in general, are having a more difficult time cultivating and harvesting crops due to climate change. They are loosing a source of food. Climate change not only affects the climate but peoples lives and livelihoods.

    • Raegan says:

      I agree, Climate change threatens the living situation, food supply, and water supply of humans everywhere, which makes it a global human rights issue. The United Nations even has Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which has articles stating the several rights that indigenous people have, such as: “Indigenous peoples have the right to their special and important spiritual relationship with their lands, waters and resources and to pass these rights to future generations”. Climate change threatens many of these rights as it aids in the destruction of land, as well as food and water supply. For many indigenous peoples, climate change has made it significantly more difficult to live on their land and to live without assistance from the government. Indigenous peoples in the Arctic, for example, are facing eroded land, an overall much warmer climate, and very dirty water, making it harder for them to survive. Indigenous peoples lives and livelihoods are significantly affected by climate change and the effects it brings.

      .

  6. Caden says:

    It is a human necessity to have suitable housing to protect them from the elements otherwise they would not be able to live. So because of this there are two possible options that could happen, the first and one I agree with is yes climate change is against their human rights since they need housing but you also have to take into account that if this was against their human rights then what would we do about it or how would we fix this problem or who/who can we put into office has the most power to fix this problem the best. There is also the other side of the coin where this is not against human rights and needs, if you were a country, business or activist group that putt out this message publicly then you or who you represent would be expected to take in and provide for the basic human necessity of the people in question who have lost most if not all of their livelihood.

    • Caden says:

      Yes I do still agree with the statement above In the way that it is somewhat a human rights abuse but now after all the info I have found and gone through there is one new thing I would like to add. That thing being that the Indigenous people should be allowed to choose when they leave to a point so that they are not forced off their land in which their heritage is still located but as the years go on climate change will only get worse and worse and eventually there will be a point where the land that they occupy will simply be uninhabitable and they will have to move but till that point I believe they should chose. At the point where they have to move they should be allowed religious freedom and citizenship by whatever country takes them in. Pages 12-14

  7. cyrus says:

    When the warming climate is affecting the ability to practice some of your culture than yes it is taking from human rights. Because they may not be able to practice old traditions like not being able to hunt because scarcity of food due to fleeing habitat for some of the animals that live there. And every human is given the right to take part in cultural life which warming climates may be hindering.

  8. matthew says:

    Yes, climate change is a human rights abuse. Climate change can affect the amount of clean water an area has and can cause floods that destroy homes. The right to a healthy climate might also be able to be classified as a human right in which case it would be an obvious abuse on human rights.

    • matthew says:

      I agree with my previous claim but there is more to add to it. Climate change makes it harder for indigenous people to practice their culture because of stuff like having to move away from the land their tribe has lived on more a long time because of the risk of flooding. They shouldn’t be forced off the land they all have heritage on because of climate change.

  9. Hailey says:

    Climate change is abuse to human rights because people will have less access to clean water and crops. The arctic will start to dry up, forcing people to have to go out looking for sources of clean water. People will also have to start altering the growth of their crops before they die off because if they’re too late, they will lose that food source.

    • Hailey says:

      I agree with my claim. Climate change affects peoples living conditions and situations they deal with on a daily basis. Resources are slowly being taking away by climate change. Article 29 talks about how they have the rights to have their environment protected. I think the problem will ultimately slow down in reservations if governments keep their eyes on indigenous peoples well beings.

  10. Maddox says:

    Yes, For me as a Native Americans the environment around us is our way of life. Whether it comes down to the animals we hunt or the traditional medicines in our culture. Some species of animals and fish can be affected by the warming climate.
    And the cultural medicines we use might begin to dwindle. Soon the animals will eventually move and try to find areas that suit their needs better.

    • Maddox says:

      Yes I agree As a Native American i’m glad I learned more information about about this topic and how the government will as seen in article 26 is the government will recognize and protect our lands and resources.

  11. Gaven says:

    Climate change is a human rights abuse because climate change melts where they live and affects how they can support themselves. Climate change affects how they get their food, their shelter and it melts the land which they live on.

    • Gaven says:

      After getting more information I still agree that climate change is a human rights abuse because “Deforestation, particularly in developing countries, is
      pushing indigenous families to migrate to cities for economic reasons, often ending up in urban slums.” according to the climate change article.

  12. Kyleisha says:

    Most definitely climate change is human rights abuse because the change in climate affects all organisms. As temperatures rise, it changes our water supply, the food us Indigenous people hunt for, changes our weather. This winter of 2020-21 was one of the driest winters, we barely even gotten below zero, that comes to show that our climates temperature is rising, which could potentially kill off our deer meat supply, or other animals being hunted.

    • Kyleisha says:

      I still heavily agree with the fact that climate change is human rights abuse. With the new information I have compiled in the last couple days, I found out that Indigenous peoples are more connected to mother earth than you may think, whether if it’s with water, snow, animals, anything. The reservation in Alaska showed that the Indigenous peoples their depend so much on their water, which the temperatures rising are causing the ponds to disappear, when the population depend on the ponds for food and survival skills. On that reservation they are very poor, the houses aren’t as nice as you would hope being that they are so connected with their land and are doing nothing to really hurt it, but they are still being forced out of their homes without hesitation because the government wants to use it for the resources that will lead to polluting the earth. As well as in the Amazon deforestation plus forest fragmentation are leading to fires in the Amazon which are killing a lot of their Indigenous peoples livelihoods.

  13. Josh says:

    yes, and no. On the table that we worked on a few days ago, we saw that many of the climate drivers are out of human control, but if we refuse to attempt to control the factors that we can control, we are violating their rights. We are risking their land for our wants, and even if it isn’t violating their rights, we should still try to control what drivers we can, because it shouldn’t be up to us what happens to their land.

  14. Glenn says:

    i think it is abuse of human rights because it’s not fair for people to forced out of their home because the climate change and the government has done nothing to help them or to fix the problem at hand.

  15. marchello says:

    I think it definitely is as people being treated a certain way without being heard is always not a good thing and even with what was going on the indigenous people didn’t just leave so forcing them out even if you think it is their best option isn’t something you should do because they can make their own choices and do what they want.

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