The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has urged governments and other stakeholders to mainstream human rights into policies and responses to tackle climate change.
The Executive Secretary of the commission, Dr Tony Ojukwu, SAN, made the call on Tuesday in Abuja while speaking with journalists at the opening of a three-day training for NHRC staff on climate change.
The training, themed “Human Rights and Climate Change,” was organized by the NHRC in partnership with the Danish Institute for Human Rights and the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Ojukwu said human activities had significantly contributed to the effects of climate change, stressing the need to incorporate human rights considerations into climate-related policies and interventions.
He said the training would equip NHRC staff with the knowledge to understand the connection between climate change and human rights violations and identify emerging complaints linked to climate-related challenges.
“Climate change is seriously connected with human rights. We can see that temperature levels are changing, farming seasons are changing and so on,” he said.
Ojukwu explained that extreme heat, for instance, could affect people’s health, while flooding could destroy homes and property and expose communities to waterborne diseases.
He said such consequences could affect fundamental rights, including the rights to life, health and livelihood, as businesses and sources of income are disrupted.
“As an institution established for the promotion and protection of human rights, it is our duty to care about how climate change affects the people,” he said.
Ojukwu said the commission was preparing its staff to handle the increasing number of complaints arising from climate change and related human rights violations.
He urged governments to involve human rights experts and the NHRC in developing climate change responses to ensure that the wider impact on people’s rights was properly considered.
“Our message to governments is that we need to mainstream human rights into government responses to climate change and they need to carry the Human Rights Commission along.
“They need to carry human rights experts so that we can see the far-reaching implications, not only the physical, but the human rights implications, because the rights of people are going to be impacted,” he said.
The NHRC executive secretary also called for a holistic approach to climate-related challenges, including the development and review of a national climate change policy that fully integrates human rights principles.
He said such a policy would help protect the lives and rights of Nigerians affected by climate change.
Speaking virtually, Maria Poppins, Chief Adviser at the Danish Institute for Human Rights, said the organization partnered with the NHRC because of the growing impact of climate change on human rights.
Poppins said climate change was already undermining development gains and the fulfillment of economic, social and cultural rights.
She expressed concern over the slow pace of global climate negotiations and emissions reductions, given the severity of current climate projections.
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She said the training would focus on strengthening the NHRC’s role in protecting communities most severely affected by climate change, particularly those with limited influence over climate policies and decision-making.
Poppins expressed hope that the training would empower participants to respond more effectively to the challenges climate change poses to the realization of human rights in Nigeria.
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