High Commissioner urges climate action to be guided by human rights

Assalomu alaykum. Good day, everyone.

Thank you to the National Human Rights Centre of Uzbekistan and all the organising partners for the invitation to this important conference. I regret I cannot join you in person.

The triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution affects every single person on this planet.

And this is a crisis not just for our planet, but for human rights.

The rights to health, food, water and sanitation are directly impacted.

So too is the right to life.

The Central Asian region knows very well the disastrous consequences of climate change.

 This is a region warming faster than the global average. Extreme weather events such as heatwaves, droughts and heavy rainfall are becoming more commonplace, more severe.

The World Bank Group and the Asian Development Bank have projected temperature increases of up to 5.7 degrees Celsius in the Ferghana Valley and 5.6 degrees in the Aralkum Desert by 2090, which will render human life unliveable.

Across the whole region, the changing climate is already driving many to leave their homes in search of employment, with the lands they rely on for their livelihoods degrading at pace because of drought and desertification. In Uzbekistan alone, three out of ten people in rural areas do not have access to safe drinking water. 

And perhaps nowhere has environmental degradation been so visible as in the Aral Sea. I could witness this myself when I visited Uzbekistan last year. Once one of the world’s largest lakes, it has now almost disappeared. This has devastated the fishing industry, leading to food insecurity and loss of livelihoods. The remaining water is heavily polluted. The exposed seabed is releasing toxic dust, causing respiratory issues and other health problems. And many of the communities dependent on the sea are among the poorest in the country, a sobering reminder that environmental degradation disproportionately affects the most vulnerable and marginalised.

This example demonstrates that the triple planetary crisis is not just a catastrophe for the environment, and a catastrophe for human rights. It is also a catastrophe for our economies.

In Central Asia, climate-related disasters drove a loss of 3 billion USD last year alone.

We need a fundamental shift on several fronts.

This includes a shift in the way we approach our economies, to look beyond profit, the short-term, and the interests of the few.

A human rights economy does just this, by addressing the root causes of inequalities, and by prioritizing social spending, sustainable development and climate action over debt servicing.

Its premise is that all business models and all economic policies must further the enjoyment of, and be guided by, human rights.

A human rights economy can put in place guardrails to tackle unsustainable consumption and production practices.

And it can ensure a diverse range of voices inform climate policy, particularly those who have been most affected by environmental harm.

A key opportunity for Central Asia over the coming years will be green development. Renewable energy, sustainable agriculture and conservation are crucial for the planet, but they are also crucial for economic growth, jobs and human rights.

And green development also means correcting the course, to ensure that future generations will be able fully to enjoy their human rights.

We can and must be encouraged by concrete progress achieved to combat the climate crisis – progress that has often been driven by individuals and social movements.

In 2022, the UN General Assembly adopted a landmark resolution recognising that people everywhere have the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.

This means that clean air, safe water, enough food and a stable climate are guaranteed rights belonging to each and every one of us.

And that governments and other actors, including the private sector, are accountable for ensuring that we are able to enjoy this right fully.

Already, some 83 per cent of UN Member States – including Uzbekistan - have now formally recognized the right to a healthy environment in their domestic law.

As mentioned, I visited Uzbekistan in March last year, and was impressed by the determination of people to address the human rights issues affecting the country, including with respect to the environment.

Uzbekistan also has made strong commitments to address the human rights crisis stemming from climate change. I welcome, for example, its recent accession to the UN’s Europe Protocol on Water and Health, the first country in Central Asia to do so.

At last year’s UN General Assembly, Uzbekistan committed to a regional initiative collectively to address issues, such as desertification and water security. And at last year’s UN Climate Change Conference, Uzbekistan also undertook to address climate-related migration and displacement, as well as to advance the participation of young people in environmental issues.

I welcome Uzbekistan’s engagement with the Universal Periodic Review process, which has led to a number of recommendations to enhance human rights protections in the country. I encourage Uzbekistan to take the necessary steps to ratify the Aarhus Convention, as well as the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, two of the international legal instruments key in advancing accountability, justice, public participation and access to information.

I also urge all States in the region to support rights-based approaches in the upcoming international environmental negotiations, including the annual UN Climate Change Conference, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution, as well as, more broadly, the Summit of the Future.

Colleagues, 

As you know, the catastrophic consequences of environmental degradation will continue to unravel at lighting speed, unless we act with resolve, and we act now. Action guided by the human rights framework - rooted in equality, justice and human dignity - can provide us with solutions so urgently needed. I wish you productive discussions.

Katta rahmat (Thank you).