Building a climate of justice

The Asia Pacific faces unprecedented threats from climate change – among them, rising sea levels, powerful storms, droughts and floods – with vulnerable and marginalised communities facing the greatest risks.

Collective action, at the international and regional level, is essential for building strong, resilient communities and upholding human rights at times of severe challenges.

Through our Inter-Governmental Mechanisms (IGM) Project, funded by the European Union, we brought together two powerful agents for change in the Asia Pacific: national human rights institutions (NHRIs) and regional inter-governmental mechanisms (IGMs).

By establishing regular platforms for dialogue, we helped strengthen the foundation for strong and strategic collaboration on human rights, with a focus on human rights and the environment, that will deliver benefits for communities. These collaborations have been documented in a new good practice guide with examples from across the region. 

A regional vision

IGMs seek to promote peace, prosperity and partnerships among their member States. In pursuing this vision, many of the issues they address involve common human rights challenges facing communities across their sub-region.

State representatives to IGMs rely on rigorous advice and analysis to shape region-wide policies that respond to these challenges and strengthen national and regional institutions.

The unique mandate of NHRIs means they can add significant value to these discussions, including to support the integration of rights-based approaches into policies and actions. NHRIs can also play a vital role to promote implementation of these policies and actions at the national level.

Our objectives

Commencing in February 2021, the IGM Project has supported NHRIs in South-East Asia and the Pacific to engage with the State representatives of their respective IGMs: the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR); and the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS), the Pacific Community (SPC) and the Secretariat for the Pacific Environment Program (SPREP).

The project has sought to establish a dialogue for engagement and collaboration on environmental rights and climate change, with the ultimate goal of empowering communities in South-East Asia and the Pacific to respond to the human rights challenges they face.

In bringing together representatives from NHRIs and IGMs for a series of facilitated roundtable discussions, we helped:

• Build recognition of the unique and complementary roles of NHRIs and IGMs to promote and protect human rights
• Identify opportunities for collaboration between NHRIs and IGMs, with a focus on environmental rights and climate change
• Strengthened partnerships and networking opportunities between NHRIs, IGMs and other stakeholders 
• Build knowledge on the link between climate change and human rights, including relevant UN resolutions, and UN Special Rapporteurs. 

Our approach

Project activities included:

• Blended learning courses for NHRIs in South-East Asia and the Pacific on environmental rights and climate change
  
• Online communities of practice for NHRIs in South-East Asia and the Pacific to discuss effective approaches for engaging with their IGM, share insights on key thematic issues around environmental rights and climate change
  
• Roundtable dialogues in South-East Asia and the Pacific for NHRIs and IGMs, with a focus on environmental rights and climate change
  
• A small grants program to assist four NHRIs undertake national activities on environmental rights and climate change
  
• We published a policy paper that sets out proposed guidelines for NHRIs and their engagement with intergovernmental mechanisms.