UN rights chief warns about the dire ecological situation that is affecting the world. This urgent need must be addressed.
The United Nations warned that environmental threats are increasing conflicts in the world and will soon be the biggest threat to human rights.
Michelle Bachelet, UN rights chief, stated Monday that climate change, pollution and nature loss are serious threats to human rights, while countries around the world fail to take the necessary actions.
Bachelet stated that the interconnected crises of biodiversity, climate change, and pollution act as threat multipliers, causing tensions, conflicts, and increasing vulnerability in people.
These environmental threats are becoming more severe and will be the single greatest challenge to human right in this era.
These comments were part a global update given by Bachelet at Geneva’s opening session of the UN Human Rights Council 48th session.
The former Chilean president stated that environmental threats are already directly and seriously impacting a wide range of rights, including the right to adequate food, water education, housing, development, health, and life itself, which is why the poorest countries are the most affected.
The UN rights chief cited the horrific climate events that led to the California fires and California floods, as well as the deaths of many others, such as those in Siberia and California. Bachelet warned that severe droughts could also force millions into poverty, hunger, and displacement.
The urgent need to address the environmental crisis is a humanitarian imperative, an imperative for human rights, and a development imperative.
It is also possible, she said.
Bachelets office pushes for more ambitious climate commitments during the 12-day COP26 climate negotiations in Glasgow, which are set to start on October 31.
Despite the COVID-19 Pandemic offering an opportunity for us to focus on environmentally-friendly initiatives, this shift is not being consistent and robustly made because of the failure of member states to implement and fund the Paris climate agreements.
The UN rights chief stated that we must raise the bar because our common future is dependent on it.
