By Brendan Sweeney
Professor in Political Theory at the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Oxford, Professor Caney received the Climate Change Leadership Fellowship from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESCR) to work on a project entitled ‘Equity and Climate Change’.
He participated in a workshop organised by the Danish Institute for Human Rights entitled ‘Human Rights and Climate Change’ on 29-30 October 2009.
Q: How do you feel this workshop has contributed to your work? Has it given you a new perspective on climate change and human rights?
A: I think it has been extremely helpful, partly just because it brings so many diverse perspectives from different disciplines, but also from those who live with the day-to-day experience of what climate change means for them and their communities. So everything from the most abstract analysis of responsibilities to the legal framework to the felt experiences of climatic change; they’re all essential.
Q: Your own work on moral responsibility and climate change; how did you find that related to the debate about human rights and climate change?
A: I think there is one clear message from a human rights point of view; any account of how you the share the burden, how you distribute the responsibilities has to take into account the impact of those solutions on human rights. So for example it would be unfair to have a system which imposed heavy demands on those who are already vulnerable and unable to uphold their human rights. That approach can have an impact on everything from environmental deforestation programmes, and attempting to remedy that, to emission trading schemes which may or may not distribute emission permits to those who are most vulnerable. So it’s a point that ramifies all through adaptation measures and mitigation measures, that there are ways of distributing the burden that honour these human rights and there are ways that don’t, and we should clearly choose the former.
Q: We have this major conference in Copenhagen on climate change coming shortly: how important is it to have a human rights input in this?
A: Human rights matter in at least three ways here. One is this; if we don’t prevent dangerous climate change it will undermine the enjoyment of human rights, the right to life, the right to food, the right to subsistence and the right to health. It is morally imperative to prevent climate change from that point of view. Secondly, there is also the fact that any solution must also honour human rights. There are solutions which do that much better than others; so human rights don’t just specify the goal we are aiming at, but also the ways we can achieve them must be human rights compatible. Thirdly, and finally, there is the question of procedural justice, that the decision making process has to be open to people so that they have the right to participate in and shape the decisions that affect their lives. It’s a different kind of right, but nonetheless, it is very important for any legitimate agreement, that those who are affected are consulted in some way. So if they manage to achieve that we’ll have an equitable climate negotiation. I think the real challenge is to think; in what ways can we best approximate these goals? Because it may be difficult – it will be difficult - to realise all three.
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