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8/4/2019 Climate Technology Policy and Human Rights: Protecting Rights in a Climate-Constrained World - Executive Summary

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Climate Technology Policy and

Human Rights

Protecting Rights

in a Climate-Constrained World

Summary and

Recommendations


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AbouT THe ICHRP

The International Council on Human Rights Policy (ICHRP) was established in Geneva in 1998 to conduct applied researchinto current human rights issues. Its research is designed to be o practical relevance to policy-makers in international andregional organisations, in governments and inter-governmental agencies, and in voluntary organisations o all kinds. TheICHRP is independent, international in its membership, and participatory in its approach. It is registered as a non-protoundation under Swiss law.

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ISBN: 2-940259-99-2

2011 International Council on Human Rights Policy. Most rights reserved.

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Design and layout by Benjamin D. Peltier at the International Council on Human Rights Policy.

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Juan E. Mendez (Argentina)

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Douglas Mendes (Trinidad & Tobago)Tessa Morris-Suzuki (Australia)

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Cr Illstratin

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2011 International Council on Human Rights Policy, Most Rights Reserved.

Climate Technology Policy and Human Rights

Protecting Rights in a Climate-Constrained World

Summary and Recommendations


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NoTe oN THe TexT

In June 2008, the International Council on Human Rights Policy (ICHRP) published Climate Change and Human Rights: ARough Guide, tracking the main human rights concerns raised by climate change and exploring possible areas o synergyin law and policy. As a rst attempt to broach a topic o growing policy importance, the report met a broad need and hasbeen in high demand since publication.

As a ollow-up to this initial research, the ICHRP launched a second project, choosing technology transer as the themeor urther research because o its evident and ar-reaching human rights implications that have so ar not been examinedor ully articulated.

The means by which technology moves between states takes us into the heart o international legal and commercialprocesses that are not, or the most part, constructed in a way conducive to reducing the impact o climate change.Technology transer is needed both to help poorer and more vulnerable countries and communities adapt to the nowinevitable consequences o climate change in the short term, and to assist them in moving on to low-carbon developmentpathways in the longer term. Human rights are relevant to the technology questions that arise in both these policy areas:adaptation policies in the short term and mitigation measures over the long term. Highlighting the human rights benetso technological interventions may create a space or re-raming and circumventing the unsustainable dynamic that haslargely characterised debate o this subject to date. In this regard, human rights oer a strong ethical and legal basis romwhich technology transer might be approached.

Climate Technology Policy and Human Rights: Protecting Rights in a Climate-Constrained World, addresses issues thatare central to technology policy at a critical time and aims to explain the concerns o environmental activists and o humanrights advocates so that common principles might be ound and a common position orged. Technology transer has

generally been conceived o as a means to address a central injustice associated with climate change that activities thathave primarily beneted the denizens o the worlds richest states will disproportionally aect those living in the worldspoorest states. It has long been recognised as an indispensable element o a stable uture and a global deal. The ICHRPreport shows that it is more than that, however: it is also a principal means by which basic human rights standards mightstill be attainable or the worlds most vulnerable people in a climate-constrained uture.

This Summary and Recommendations is a supplement to the ull report, condensing the key themes discussed in thereport into a broad overview and providing a concise list o the reports recommendations or urther action.

ACRoNymS

UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention onClimate Change

ICHRP International Council on Human Rights Policy

IP intellectual property

OHCHR Oce o the High Commissioner o HumanRights

EGTT Expert Group on Technology Transer

TNAs Technology Needs Assessments

NTPs National Technology Plans

LDCs Least Developed Countries

IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

COP Conerence o the Parties

CoNTeNTS

1. ExEcutivESummary........................................................................ 1

Technology transer is essential to any long-term

climate settlement 1

Climate change raises human rights concerns that must inorm technology policy 2

2. rEcommEndationS.......................................................................... 5

To All Governments 5

To Annex 2 Country Governments 5

To non-Annex 1 Country Governments 6

To Civil Society Organisations 6

To UN and Other International Agencies and Bodies 6


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Climate Technology Policy and Human Rights: ProtectingRights in a Climate-Constrained World1 argues thatinternational climate change technology policy must takehuman rights concerns into account i it is to unction justlyand eectively. The report starts rom two premises, each owhich is now widely shared. The rst is that any solution toclimate change depends upon robust technology policies.

The second is that climate change has proound human rightsimplications, and that solutions to climate change will only beeective i they integrate human rights concerns. The reportidenties how human rights considerations are relevant toclimate technology policies and how human rights tools mightuseully be mobilised and integrated into such policies.

Despite clear directions in the UNFCCC, there isno policy of technology transfer in place today.What we have, instead, is a range of documents andpreparatory initiatives circling around the theme withoutever really settling it.

Human rights can provide a minimal platorm o agreementon initial policy steps regarding technology at an internationallevel. They can do so in the context o both mitigation andadaption policies. Such a platorm is vital in a domain thathas long been eectively stalled. There has been practicallyno movement on the international implementation otechnology transer in response to climate change despiteit being a key principle o the climate change regime or twodecades. The report diagnoses some o the causes o thepersistent immobility on technology transer and providesconcrete examples o how a human rights lens may helptranscend the deadlock. Further, it aims to demonstratethat basic human rights protections provide an appropriateminimal threshold or prioritising areas or policy action inthe area o technology.

It is now clear that technology is central to any solution tothe specic consequences o climate change. As thereare no quick technological xes and as agreement overtechnology is inseparable rom broader political and policyagreement technological development and diusionis an indispensable element in all available scenarios oraddressing climate change. On one hand, climate changemitigation is unthinkable without a robust shit towards low-carbon technologies in every walk o lie a shit that mustultimately take place globally, not merely in the rich world.On the other hand, climate change adaptation which iso greatest urgency in the developing world will rely to animportant degree on access to technologies. While not all

adaptation challenges are primarily technological, policiesseeking to stabilise or adjust to new climatic conditionsnecessarily include technology as a key component. Thisis particularly true where the eects o climate change willbe most devastating.

technology transfer is essential to any long-terM

cliMatesettleMent

The centrality o technology to international eorts to addressclimate change has consistently been expressed throughthe notion o technology transer. This term, enshrined inthe 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on ClimateChange (UNFCCC) and reappearing in every major

document since, signals that it is not enough when dealing1 The detailed report is available rom the International Council on

Human Rights Policy, October 2011. This workbook provides ashort summary and specic recommendations gleaned rom theinormation in the ull report.

with climate change to develop technologies capable oaddressing the problem: these technologies must also beavailable where they are needed. In the original UNFCCCnegotiations, wealthier countries recognised their greatercontribution to climate change and greater capacity to dealwith it and so agreed to make technologies available toassist poorer countries in managing the impacts o climate

change and in transitioning to low-carbon economies. Untiltechnology transer is eective, poorer countries are notrequired to accept greenhouse gas emissions targets.

The report provides a normative argument, besed uponhuman rights, or the mobilisation o technologies to thesecountries. It is the right thing to do, but the reasons are asmuch political, economic and legal as they are ethical. TheUNFCC technology directives actively prioritise transerto the worlds developing countries, as not to do so wouldultimately be to invite chaos. It is becoming graduallyapparent that, sooner or later, something like a wartimemobilisation o global technological capacities will berequired i the allout rom climate change is not to becomecatastrophic. The report also suggests that early steps inthat mobilisation can be undertaken right away, drawing onboth the moral and legal authority o human rights and thelongstanding technology provisions o the climate changeregime to push things orward.

Yet, despite decades o debate, there has been virtuallyno practical movement on technology transer. Indeed,the term itsel has oten appeared more as a source odisagreement than a cure or climate-related harms. Thisis in part because technology transer has a long anddivisive history as a term o art. Always politically charged,it has been shorthand or a set o contested positions sincethe 1960s. In particular, it provided a stage or proounddisagreements over the appropriate extent o international

intellectual property (IP) rights. Protagonists in this disputemay disagree on everything rom the benets o ree tradeto the proper role o the market in ordering public goods aswell as the legitimate degree o government intervention onbehal o vulnerable populations.

Whatever the symbolic signicance o these entrenchedpositions historically, they miss the point today. The keyissue is not ound in the raught debate about the extent towhich IP rights do in act constitute a barrier to the transer otechnology. Rather, despite clear directions in the UNFCCC,there is no policy o technology transer in place today. Whatwe have, instead, is a range o documents and preparatoryinitiatives circling around the theme without ever really settling

it. Furthermore, technology transer is increasingly a lie-or-death issue. This is literally true or individuals in parts o theworld most vulnerable to the devastating eects o climatechange, who urgently require solutions to their local problemsas well as action at a global level. It is also true symbolicallyor the negotiations themselves. Without movement on thisissue, the negotiations cannot progress or reasons as muchpractical as ethical, and the time has come to move orward.

This set o arguments and developments provides thecontext or this report. The report does not aim to takesides in the longstanding disputes over technology transerand IP, although it does hold that debate up to scrutiny.Rather, the report identies undamental and unavoidableissues that climate change technology policy raises orhuman rights and, by corollary, that human rights raiseor the implementation o climate technology policies. Thereport indicates how human rights law and practice can bebenecial in two ways:

1. exeCuTIve SummARy

Climate Technology Policy and Human Rights: Summary and Recommendations 1


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(1) Highlighting the urgency o putting a policy in placeto initiate the transer o technologies;

(2) Helping set the parameters or such a technology policy.

In doing so, the report aims to provide a means to movebeyond the deadlock on technology policy.

The report also suggests that a ailure to make climatemitigation and adaptation technologies available to themost vulnerable will not only sustain the recurrent impassewithin climate negotiations, it will ultimately engender widerpolitical instability and insecurity stemming rom climatechange. The key missing link in climate negotiations ontechnology transer to date has been the lack o proactive

leadership and good aith in creating such a policy romthe countries duty-bound to do so under the UNFCCC the comparatively wealthy states reerred to in the text asdeveloped countries and other Annex 2 Parties.

Some explanations or this ailure are requently raised and bearconsideration. One is that the stark categorical distinctions in theUNFCCC between developed and developing countries nolonger describe contemporary realities. Annexes to the originaltreaty list the OECD countries in Annex 2 and then reincludethem in a longer list also comprising the transitional, mainlyEast European states (Annex 1). Annex 2 countries carry thestrongest obligations. Developing countries are not listed ineither annex, and are thus known as non-Annex 1 countries.

However, as the global economy has transormed over thepast two decades, these lines have somewhat blurred. Somenon-Annex 1 parties are now wealthier than some Annex 1countries, and although the vast majority o global wealth stillresides in the North, the majority o emissions now arise in theSouth. At the same time, amidst this geopolitical transormation,the evolving UNFCCC approach to technology has not clariednor emphasised what the actions o developed country andother Annex 2 parties should be.

Although an insistence on the duties o these countries (orthe rights o non-Annex 1 countries) is unlikely to encourageconsensus today, a number o actors are nevertheless clear:

(1) The (universally acknowledged) greater responsibility

or climate change, both historical and current, o theper capita wealthiest (i.e., Annex 2) countries providesa practical and moral basis or the technology transerprovisions in the UNFCCC.

(2) It would not be in keeping with the object and purposeo the UNFCCC ramework to read its technologytranser provisions as imposing noobligation on thesecountries. But even i read as merely exhortative,there is little evidence o implementation.

(3) Without concerted action rom the same (Annex2) countries, climate change will wreak havoc thatmight otherwise be avoided particularly with regardto leastdeveloped countries (LDCs).

(4) None o this entails that technology transer be regardedas a passive process between North and South. Theundamental human rights principle o participationdictates signicant recipient-country input into andownership over the process.

cliMatechangeraiseshuManrightsconcernsthatMust

inforMtechnologypolicy

Human rights have emerged as a very recent considerationin the climate change negotiations, but there is nowan emerging consensus that climate change threatensnumerous human rights, including rights to ood, housing,water, health and even lie. Climate change is likely to causemass migration and may contribute to confict, each o whichbrings urther human rights risks in its train. The importanceo taking human rights into account when addressing climatechange policy is increasingly recognised. A 2008 report onclimate change and human rights produced by the Oceo the High Commissioner o Human Rights (OHCHR) wasollowed by a series o Resolutions at the UN Human RightsCouncil as well as countless investigations (o varying rigour)by NGOs, research institutions and independent scholars.Most recently and importantly, the 16th Conerence o theParties (COP) to the UNFCCC meeting at Cancun in 2010ormally recognised the importance o ully respect[ing]human rights in all climate change-related actions.

Human rights have emerged as a very recentconsideration in the climate change negotiations,but there is now an emerging consensus that climatechange threatens numerous human rights, includingrights to food, housing, water, health and even life.

As one o the our pillars o the Bali Action Plan and a keytheme rom Rio through Cancun, technology transer isclearly one o the principal climate changerelated actions

It is now clear that technology is central to any solution to the phenomenon o climate change.

2 Climate Technology Policy and Human Rights: Summary and Recommendations


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to which human rights considerations are thereore relevant.What does this mean? At rst glance, it involves recognisingthe degree to which human rights are impacted by a ailureto move on technology transer. The same is true, o course,or the ailures in other areas o climate change. Lack oprogress on both mitigation and adaptation are beginningto produce quantiable human rights harms. Technologytranser is a special case, however, as it constitutes a keyaspect o both mitigation and adaptation policy.

The best available means to initiate a policy o technologytranser will likely involve some orm o multilateral poolingo technologies, o unding and o patents. It will also likelyrest upon various publicprivate partnership arrangements,both nationally and internationally. This much is alreadyclear rom current strategic thinking about technologytranser within the UNFCCC, undertaken by the recentlydisbanded Expert Group on Technology Transer (EGTT).

An eective policy o technology transer will also involvetargeted prioritisation o technology needs. At countrylevel, mitigation and adaptation needs have been identiedthrough Technology Needs Assessments (TNAs). Whilethe compilation o TNAs has been an immensely valuable

process in numerous countries and begins to set a compassor technology policy internationally, TNAs have not providedand, on their own, cannot provide, the impetus or policypriorities or drivers among Annex 2 countries. I it is to bemeaningul and eective, technology transer policy must beinitiated in Annex 2 countries, individually or collectively.

Publicprivate coordination, at both national andinternational levels, is almost certainly needed tomake technologies available on the appropriate scaleand to deliver them into the appropriate hands.

It is in the identication o policy priorities and drivers to

orient technology transer that the report aims to contribute.The report proposes that human rights provide anappropriate way to organise and orient technology policyand to prioritise needs and objectives in both adaptationand mitigation. Among the many points raised by the report,six key issues bear mentioning:

I. A fcs n han rights can hlp ci n which

tchnlgis t cncntrat natinal plicis.

Chapter 5 o the ull report notes that the identication oparticular human rights threats occasioned by climatechange provides a sound basis or prioritising the deliveryo those technologies best suited to meeting specicthreats in particular places. A next round o TNAs, possiblyin the orm o National Technology Plans (NTPs), will benetrom a human rights ocus on the vulnerability o particularpersons in certain sectors (healthcare, ood security, wateravailability, housing security, cultural integrity, and so on).

To do so would not involve a dramatic reorientation o TNAs,which are currently sector-ocused, but it would ensure thatdierent states TNAs are minimally consistent and that allincorporate a set o standards and priorities that are sharedby and across the worlds countries at large. Vulnerablestates already have obligations to ull human rights athome, but these obligations are compromised by changesto the local climate over which they have no control. Theirhuman rights obligations provide vulnerable states with a

strong lever in negotiations with development donors on theprioritisation, delivery and orientation o aid and technology.Such an emphasis would essentially entail a reorientation odevelopment policy priorities in many states.

II. Han rights can hlp intrnatinal crinatin f

tchnlg plic.

I properly coordinated, TNAs can identiy common humanrights concerns across many countries. This, in turn, canprovide an invaluable spur to international coordination inidentiying and disseminating key technologies to the countriesand locations most in need o them. Again, the act that humanrights embody already-shared standards is key: personsvulnerable to human rights threats constitute, in principle, a

priority or international as well as domestic policy.

The report suggests some tools that already exist to help inthis process the Food and Agricultural Organisations FoodInsecurity and Vulnerability Inormation and Mapping System(FIVIMS) indicator, or example, monitors ood security andidenties current and uture risk o ood scarcity. Such tools,where they exist, will need to be rened in order to target thespecicity o climate change risks. In addition, the availabilityo human rights indicators would be helpul or climate changetechnology policy, among numerous other purposes.

What might such policies involve? Working rom nationallevel NTPs (or TNAs), international policy would presumably

need to identiy priority technologies, establish the extento needs across countries and conduct analyses o costs,availability, distribution, aordability, risks to human rightsor the environment, and proprietorial barriers, i any, o theselected technologies. Moreover, It would seek economies oscale across countries, establish patent pools or exemptions,i needed, and suggest state or multilateral incentives,subsidies and sanctions to acilitate private sector assistanceand appropriate mechanisms or acilitating internationaltransers as warranted.

Publicprivate coordination, at both national and internationallevels, is almost certainly needed to make technologiesaccessible on the appropriate scale and to deliver them intothe appropriate hands. The technology that is transerredin such cases includes: inclusive technology innovationinvolving end-users and other stakeholders; hardware deliverythrough arrangements to ensure licensing and know-how; theprovision o training in maintaining, operating and constructingtechnologies; and to the localisation o technologies to acilitateintegration into new environments in a manner that does notcompromise livelihoods.

III. making clan nrg nirsall aailal is ital t

prtct han rights as cliat chang ncrachs.

The report ollows recent calls rom the International EnergyAgency and a special advisory group to the UN Secretary-General or universalising access to modern clean energies.

As existing analyses make clear, such a policy goal isaordable, manageable and urgent. It is indispensible i theworlds LDCs are to adapt to climate change in the near-termand to contribute to global mitigation eorts over the longerterm. It will ensure that development priorities do not haveto be sacriced to climate change exigencies. It will alsosupply a vital precondition or basic human rights ullment inmuch o the world. The longer this goal is delayed, however,the more likely that its achievement will be both costly andcompromised by uture climate change pressures.

Iv. Last lp cntris st cnstitt a pririt fr

tchnlg transfr plic with rgar t th aaptatin

an itigatin.

As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)and the COPs have recognised, these countries are mostvulnerable to climate change harms and least equipped to



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address those harms. At the same time, they are vulnerable toa reeze in development capacity due to climate constraints.I global mitigation measures are even partially successul,carbon-based energy and transport will become increasingly

expensive, but renewable sources o energy and transportare likely to remain expensive through the mid-term. Inevery scenario, LDCs will not be obliged to bear substantialcosts or mitigation or a long time to come, and this is as itshould be. But it will be necessary nonetheless to ensurethat these countries do not nd themselves stranded withhigh-carbon inrastructure producing uncompetitive goodsin a global market increasingly inhospitable to nonlow-carbon goods. This is all the more true where these countriesbegin to experience human rights deterioration and resourcepressures caused by climate change.

v. Th han rights principls f participatin, cnsltatin,

accntailit an accss t jstic pri a k rsrc

in th cnstrctin f intrnatinal plic.

These principles are best articulated at international level inthe Aarhus Convention on public participation in decision-making on environmental matters, which, although it lacksuniversal ratication, is nevertheless signed by a majorityo the Annex 2 states. Abiding by these principles willhelp avoid many o the pitalls associated with technologytranser in the past, where in some cases technologieswere delivered without attention to local capacity to absorbor use them, leading to disuse or misuse, and giving theprinciple itsel a bad reputation.

vI. A han rights fcs can hlp th tchnlg transfr

at transcn l argnts at intllctal prprt.

Technology transer has long stalled on the issue o IPrights, which has been unproductively polarized: one

side claiming that strong IP rights are crucial to supporttechnological and investment in developing countries,while the other side claims that internationally protected IPrights actually pose an immense obstacle to public policy

steps in this domain. Neither side has proved its case, andthe evidence is inconclusive. The present report does nottake sides in this argument. It does, however, suggest thatIP rights have taken on a symbolic importance ar beyondtheir practical signicance to this subject and that it istime to reocus on the pragmatics o making technologiesavailable where needed.

There are a number o reasons to encourage a change ogears on this subject:

(1) Policy on technology need not pivot entirely on IPrights many o the technologies in question do notinvolve signicant patent royalties.

(2) The combination o climate change and human rightsconcerns are suciently pressing that they mustencourage state-led coordination on technologydevelopment and diusion, involving incentives andsubsidies. In return, the inclusion o patent poolingor open licensing requirements will not only beappropriate, it will also be ecient and will t wellwithin existing IP protections.

(3) Where climate change results in emergencies,compulsory licensing will in any case be permissibleunder international law, as a last resort.

(4) There is scope within the UNFCCC negotiations to tacklethis problem head on and to ensure the international

legal context is prepared or IP rights reorm.

Should it be thought helpul to do so, human rights concernsprovide an appropriate impetus.

Human rights can provide a minimal platorm o agreement on initial policy steps regarding technology at an international level.



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to all governMents

Despite almost 20 years o negotiation and accumulatingevidence o climate harms, there is as yet no actionableinternational policy on technology transer. Withoutaccess to a variety o technologies, the human rightso hundreds o millions are at risk rom climate change.

Mobilising technology transer policy is thereore crucialto the uture security o human rights and, more broadly,to global security generally. Agreement on an internationaltechnology regime is o undamental importance to thesuccess o climate change policy and must be prioritised. Itneed not wait or prior agreement on binding targets. Futurerounds o negotiations must attend to the construction oa robust technology regime, drawing on the considerablework carried out by the EGTT and others.

_____ The decision at Cancun to create a TechnologyMechanism, consisting o a technology executiveboard and technology centre and network, is animportant step in actualising technology policy. TheMechanism must build on the work o the EGTT, but

it will nevertheless be uniquely positioned to bypassthe long-running obstacles in this area and ocus ona vision o technology transer that will do justice tothe longstanding hope invested in it.

_____ A working and coherent denition o technologytranser is vital. The denition must recognise thattechnology is not limited to hardware, but alsoinvolves know-how and intellectual property, andthat transer is not limited to acilitation o tradeand markets but involves proactive public policymeasures to ensure technologies move betweencountries to those who need them most and aredeployed in a manner that does not pose undue

risks to human rights, security, the environment orlivelihoods.

_____ Human rights standards can ull a number o rolesin moving climate technology policy orward:

They can serve as indicators or identiyingtechnologies needed in specic locations.

They can provide a means o coordinatinginternational policy on priority technologies,priority destinations and technological risks.

They can serve as a basis or guiding andmonitoring the manner in which technologiesare transerred and deployed in practice.

They can provide an eective moral, legal andrhetorical impetus or more clearly deningthe rights and obligations with respect totechnology transer.

_____ IP rights have long posed a signicant obstacle toprogress in technology transer. It is time to moveon rom this debate, as the increasingly pressinghuman rights concerns make clear:

IP rights may not pose a practical obstacleor all relevant technologies. Policy can moveorward switly, or example, on the transero energy-eciency techniques, established

adaptation measures, and some renewableenergy technologies that do not incurprohibitive royalties.

i)

ii)

iii)

iv)

i)

Governments can move orward proactivelywith incentives and subsidies to promote patentpools and open licensing in the development otechnologies or both adaptation and mitigation.

Multilateral agreements and programmes,including publicprivate partnerships andpartnering between developed and developing

countries, will be increasingly vital.In extreme cases, where human rightsemergencies arise due to climate change,states can lawully turn to compulsory licensingto ensure that technologies reach those most inneed, should IP rights pose an obstacle.

to annex 2 country governMents

In its provisions on technology transer, the UNFCCC speakso Annex 2 and other developed country parties. Althoughthis does not constitute a clearly dened duty-bearer, thespecic countries named in Annex 2 nevertheless have legalobligations in this domain. The ollowing recommendations

are directed at Annex 2 and other developed countries,individually and collectively.

_____ Annex 2 countries are explicitly obliged under theUNFCCC to acilitate, nance and promote the transero environmentally sound technologies to non-Annex Iand developing countries. Annex 2 country governmentsare also well-placed to mobilise technology transer andgenerate economies o scale or technology developersand producers worldwide. To date, however, Annex 2countries have done little to ull this obligation. It is nowurgent that they take the lead.

_____ Given the threat climate change poses to humanrights in vulnerable countries, Annex 2 country

Governments must now take proactive steps tomobilise climate-relevant technologies betweencountries. A constructive approach will resist castingtechnology transer solely in narrow terms o openmarkets, IP rights and enabling environments. Itwill recognise that without decisive action by andagreement among states, technology movementswill be too ew and too late.

_____ Annex 2 Governments are well-placed to contributetechnological expertise and nancial support, includingthrough multilateral mechanisms or the eectivetranser o technologies. The creation o mechanismssuch as technology pools, including patent pools,

will involve agreements on subsidies, investmentincentives, research and development, IP rights, openlicensing and technology dissemination.

_____ All Annex 2 measures must necessarily be responsiveto the goals outlined in recipient country TNAs,National Adaptation Plans o Action and NationallyAppropriate Mitigation Activities, as well as to theinstructions o the COPs to the UNFCCC and to thehuman rights obligations o all parties.

_____ Annex 2 countries should incorporate their UNFCCCtechnology obligations into their developmentpolicies and into those o the international nancialinstitutions. Human rights provide a means o

assessing and orienting development policy withregard to climate technologies or adaptation andmitigation. The Aarhus Convention is among therelevant treaties in this regard.

ii)

iii)

iv)

2. ReCommeNdATIoNS



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to non-annex 1 country governMents

Although named in the UNFCCC as the beneciaries o itsprovisions on technology transer, non-Annex 1 countries donot constitute a bloc or shared set o interests, economically,legally or politically. The ollowing recommendations arethus aimed at the various groupings that comprise non-Annex 1 countries, and in particular the LDCs.

_____ Non-Annex 1 Governments would benet romNon-Annex 1 Governments would benet rom

an assessment o the degree to which expectedclimate harms will have human rights impacts intheir countries. These evaluations should inormthe identication o technologies in country TNAs,NAPAs, NAMAs and NTPs, with a view to providingclear recommendations to the internationalcommunity, and to donors and nancial institutions,on the prioritisation o adaptation and mitigationtechnologies or addressing climate change.

_____ SouthSouth technology transer, as practicedSouthSouth technology transer, as practicednotably by Brazil, is an invaluable resource and mayhave a demonstration eect in showing how best toconstruct successul models o technology transer.

It is not, however, a substitute or the technologytranser provisions o the UNFCCC.

_____ LDCs and other recipients o development aid areLDCs and other recipients o development aid arewell-placed to negotiate the deployment o aidtowards the ullment o human rights by virtue oArticle 2.1 o the ICESCR. Climate change-related aidin particular will be well targeted where it is orientedtowards current or predicted human rights threatsto ood, water, health, housing and livelihoods, inparticular, or to ward o orced migration.

_____ Non-Annex 1 countries that are not LDCs may beNon-Annex 1 countries that are not LDCs may bewell placed to take the lead on demonstratingclimate-constrained developmental paths that can

successully incorporate human rights obligations,in part through investment in and research anddevelopment o indigenous technologies.

to civil society organisations

_____ Legal advocacy groups dealing with human rightsLegal advocacy groups dealing with human rightsor environmental law (or both) could explore thedegree to which obligations undertaken through theUNFCCC, human rights treaties, or elsewhere mayleave states or private entities liable or actions thathave blocked or ailed to acilitate technologicaltranser with human rights consequences.

_____ Environmental organisations and especially climatechange groups may benet rom incorporatinghuman rights goals and standards into their work onclimate change technology.

_____ Human rights organisations must take seriously theHuman rights organisations must take seriously thethreat o climate change and show an openness topublic policy positions that might not t easily withinclassical human rights discourse.

_____ Social science and research institutions must orge aSocial science and research institutions must orge aroad ahead or technology transer, by demonstratingwhere technologies can most useully be adapted todierent contexts and how they can most ecientlycontribute to the twin goals o urthering human rights and

development in the ace o climate change. Researchmust also be undertaken into the legal and practicalobstacles to climate change technology transer.

to un and other international agenciesand bodies

_____ The UNFCC Secretariat should consider the creationo a working group on human rights and climatechange with a view to inorming the constructiono the Technology Mechanism and other relevantbodies. It should urther empower the existing humanrights liaison at the Secretariat.

_____ The UN Human Rights Council should continue to

remain apprised o developments at the UNFCCC, toundertake its own investigations in this area, and toensure that the human rights consequences o climatechange are closely monitored and addressed. TheCouncil should consider the appointment o a SpecialProcedure on climate change and human rights.

_____ As the principal ormal locus o research into thehuman rights eects o climate change, it is vitalthat the Oce o the High Commissioner o HumanRights retain a presence in this research domain andcontinue to infuence policy.

_____ A number o UN Special Procedures have beenollowing climate change developments, integrating

it into their mandates and making valuablerecommendations. These include the SpecialRapporteurs on the Right to Adequate Food; on theRight to Housing; on the Right to Health; on HumanRights and Extreme Poverty; and the IndependentExpert on the Right to Water and Sanitation. In eacho these areas, and where other Special Proceduresare touched by climate change, it would be valuableto undertake investigations into the role o technologyin exacerbating or addressing the human rightsharms o climate change and recommending policyorientations to governments.

_____ The Committee on Economic, Social and CulturalRights is ideally placed to seek rom countries

inormation on the degree to which their technologypolicies meet their human rights obligations withregard to the impacts o climate change or themanner in which the inappropriate deployment orisky technologies might compromise human rights.

_____ Other UN bodies principal among them UNEP,UNDP, UNCTAD and the WHO will nd it ruitul tointegrate the technologyhuman rights nexus intotheir work. Studies might be undertaken within eachagency with a view to making recommendations onthe optimal mode o integrating climate technologyexigencies with their particular mandates.

_____ Technologies relevant to disaster preparation and

early warning systems will be vital to humanitarianagencies such as the ICRC, IFRC and UNHCR. Ineach case, human rights language may provide auseul motivator or mobilising unding and energytowards creating the technological inrastructureto manage climate harms beore they becomecatastrophic.

_____ There is a role or agencies dealing with trade andintellectual property, notably at the WTO and WIPO, toinvestigate the existing legal architecture in order todetermine whether it helps or hinders the transer otechnologies necessary to mitigate the human rightsimpacts o climate change. Given its mandate, WIPOis particularly well-placed to explore multilateralapproaches to options o patent pooling and openlicensing in the climate technology domain.



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Phone: +41 (0) 22 775 33 00

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As a ollow-up to its June 2008 report, Climate Change and Human Rights: A RoughGuide, the International Council on Human Rights Policy (ICHRP) launched a secondresearch project that has now resulted in its latest report, Climate Technology Policyand Human Rights: Protecting Rights in a Climate-Constrained World.

Coming at a critical time in the negotiations, this new report addresses issues thatare central to technology policy. The report aims to translate between the languageand concerns o environmental activists and those o human rights advocates, sothat common principles might be ound and a common position orged. Climatetechnology policy has generally been conceived as a means to address a centralinjustice associated with climate change that activities that have primarilybenefted the inhabitants o the worlds richest states will disproportionately aectthose living in the worlds poorest states. As a result, technology transer has long

been recognised as an indispensable element o a stable uture and a global deal,both practically and politically. The ICHRP report shows that technology transer ismore than this, however: it is also a principal means by which basic human rightsstandards can be reached or the worlds most vulnerable people in a climate-constrained uture.

This Summary and Recommendations is a supplement to the ull report, condensingthe key themes discussed in the report into a broad overview and providing a conciselist o the reports recommendations or urther action.

climate technology policy and human rights: protecting rights in a climate-constrained world -...

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