Blogs

Leigh Haynes People are experiencing the health consequences of climate change and the activities driving climate change every day—from extreme weather to breathing toxic air and drinking contaminated water. The human right to health cannot be…

Sustainable Student Action (SSA) at a divestment rally in the Seattle University Quad. (image credit Backbone Campaign) Alice Munro It is well understood that reducing global carbon emissions would generate immediate health benefits, from reducing…

Introduction by Mary Robinson I am delighted to welcome and launch this Health and Human Rights Journal series on climate change, COP21 and the right to health. The initiative is timely; on Monday October 19, 2015, climate negotiators will reconvene…

TPPA protests in Auckland, New Zealand (photo courtesy of Rhys Jones) Alexia Fourage Climate change threatens the right to health. According to the World Health Organization, climate change is already responsible for approximately 150,000…

COP21 begins November 30th Alison Blaiklock After five days of slow, intense and often rocky negotiations in Bonn, a draft text was finally agreed. This text will form the basis of the Conference of Parties (COP21) negotiations at the UN Climate…

COP21 begins November 30th Abby Rubinson Climate change has serious consequences for human rights and health. As glaciers melt and sea levels rise, and as droughts, floods and storms grow more frequent and extreme, the rights to health, life, food,…

Women and children on the arid plains at the feet of the Mogila mountains in Turkana, northern Kenya. (Credit: IRIN/Gwenn Dubourthoumieu) Katharina Rall, Brooke Guven, and Joseph J. Amon As delegates converge on Paris in November for the UN Climate…

Bosco Verticale, Milan (image credit Luca Nebuloni) Adele Houghton Human health is taking a front seat in the run up to the international climate change negotiations (COP21) in Paris in November/December, as evidenced by two recent publications:…

Cycling in New Zealand would reduce GHG emissions and promote health (image credit Sam Saunders) Gay Keating Human rights are universal, and greenhouse gasses (ghg) and climate change are global. However, most of the changes needed to reduce ghg…

The start of the civil war in Syria may have been associated with climate change (image credit Freedom Syria) Barry S. Levy and Victor W. Sidel Climate change causes or contributes to many adverse environmental consequences, including global…