APF confirms grants for national activities on climate change

Four national human rights institutions (NHRIs) – two from South-East Asia and two from the Pacific – have been selected to receive small grants to conduct national activities that will examine different aspects of human rights, climate change and a healthy environment. 

The successful NHRIs – from the Philippines, Thailand, Fiji and Samoa – outlined their activities at a talanoa, hosted by the APF and held in Nadi, Fiji, from 20-21 October 2022:

• Philippines: To document lived experiences and best practices from communities, business and government on the impact of climate change, included gendered impacts, and support the AICHR representative in contributing to the proposed ASEAN Declaration on Environmental Rights.
• Thailand: To strengthen the local community rights movement in Thailand and build space for more voices on realising the rights to a healthy environment and community rights, with recommendations to be developed for the proposed ASEAN Declaration on Environmental Rights.
• Fiji: To determine the impact of climate change on the human rights of vulnerable communities and collate disaggregated data, as well as raise awareness on the new Climate Change Act to identify whether the law adequately addresses the human rights concerns of vulnerable communities.
• Samoa: To convene a High Level Dialogue (HLD) and two-day workshop on human rights relating to a clean and healthy environment and climate change that will engage government leaders and agencies and inform laws and policies to safeguard the human rights of Samoans.  

The national activities are part of a multi-year project to promote engagement between NHRIs and regional inter-governmental mechanisms to address human rights issues in South-East Asia and the Pacific, funded by the European Union and coordinated by the APF.

Following completion of their national activity, the NHRIs will share their analysis with the representative to their respective inter-governmental mechanisms and discuss measures that best respond to the issues identified.

The two-day talanoa brought together representatives from the NHRIs of Australia, Fiji, New Zealand and Samoa, as well as from the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS), the Pacific Community (SPC) and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).

Discussions focused on the potential of climate litigation to drive changes in law and policy.

Speaking via a video presentation, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment, Dr David Boyd, provided an overview of key aspects of the recent ground-breaking decision of the UN Human Rights Committee that found Australia’s failure to adequately protect indigenous Torres Islanders against climate change impacts had violated their rights to enjoy their culture.

Dr Boyd, who filed an amicus brief in the case, hailed the decision as “an important step forward in climate change and human rights jurisprudence, and one of the most important decisions in the world so far on adaptation and human rights”.

The decision and its implications were discussed in greater detail by representatives from the Australian Human Rights Commission, while the role of NHRIs to intervene in climate-related cases before the courts was explored by the New Zealand Human Rights Commission.

Maria Muavesi from the Pacific Centre for Environmental Governance provided an overview of the right to a healthy environment in climate litigation, while Kiji Vukikomoala introduced the work of the Fiji Environmental Lawyers Association and how it seeks to advance the right to a healthy environment and climate change.

Discussions at the talanoa were facilitated by Romulo Nayacalevu, the APF’s Lead Engagement Facilitator for the Pacific, and included a session on the call by Pacific leaders for an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on the obligations of States to protect the rights of present and future generations against the adverse impacts of climate change.

“The talanoa was a vibrant exchange that included discussion of different opportunities for NHRIs and regional bodies to collaborate on human rights-based approaches to respond to the pressing environmental and climate change issues in our region,” said Kieren Fitzpatrick, Director of the APF secretariat.

Date: 31 October 2022