Promoting Disability-Inclusive Climate Action through Litigation - HPOD and Allies Urge Inter-American Court on Human Rights to Take Notice of Evolving International Standards

“Last month, HPOD, together with the Programa de Acción por la Igualdad y la Inclusión Social (PAIIS), based at the Universidad de los Andes in Colombia, and the Disability-Inclusive Climate Action Research Program (DICARP), based at McGill University in Canada, submitted an amicus curiae brief to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, urging the Court to ensure that States Parties to the American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR) are aware of their obligations under international law to ensure that their climate change adaptation and mitigation measures are inclusive of persons with disabilities. In response to a joint request by Colombia and Chile last year, the Court is poised to deliver an advisory opinion on the scope of states' international human rights obligations to respond to the ongoing global climate crisis. The Court's opinion presents a unique opportunity for a regional human rights tribunal to articulate a broad, human rights-based framework for states to undertake climate action as well as for this Court to expand on its 2017 advisory opinion on "State obligations in relation to the environment in the context of the protection and guarantee of the rights to life and to personal integrity." 

ID: A dark cloudy yellow sky is filled with polluted smoke coming from numerous chimneys. The central focus is a number of factories. The image has a post-apocalyptic feel.

“HPOD, PAIIS, DICARP, along with numerous other signatories from throughout the Americas, recommended firstly that the Court recognize that states' ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) reinforces their obligation to reduce carbon omissions, particularly in light of Article 11, which requires States Parties to take “all necessary measures to ensure the protection and safety of persons with disabilities in situations of risk, including situations of armed conflict, humanitarian emergencies and the occurrence of natural disasters.” The amici further provided extensive examples of how the Court has increasingly interpreted states' obligations under the ACHR consistently with their CRPD duties and lastly signaled specific obligations stemming from the CRPD that the Court should consider highlighting in order to give states effective guidance on disability-inclusive climate measures.”

The report is available in PDF, in Spanish.

Read the full blog post by the Harvard Law School Project on Disability here.