Rights of Present and Future Generations at Risk After Lima

For Immediate Release

December 2014

Press Contact: Amanda Kistler, akistler@ciel.org, 202.742.5832

Lima, Peru – Climate talks in Lima ended today, squandering the opportunity to set the stage for an ambitious 2015 climate agreement and for more urgent action to protect the rights of peoples and communities impacted by climate change. The Lima conference was an opportunity for countries to identify how they will increase mitigation action in the short-term to avoid the most catastrophic climate impacts, and to establish a clear path for developed countries to provide necessary finance to support developing country actions. However, the outcome failed to do either.

“Countries have obligations to both address climate change and protect human rights,” said Niranjali Amerasinghe, Director of the Climate & Energy Program at the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL). “While all countries need to take action, those who have contributed most to the problem must bear the primary responsibility for solving it. We did not see meaningful leadership from developed countries and ultimately it is the world’s most vulnerable peoples and communities who will pay the price.” The scope of the new agreement is conspicuously silent on loss and damage, an issue that is critical for vulnerable communities and countries.

There was also effectively no outcome on forest protection, with key issues related to social and environmental safeguards pushed to next year. “While forest defenders like Edwin Chota and José Isidro Tendetza Antún are killed for standing up against deforestation, there was no progress to ensure that rights are respected in forest-related climate initiatives,” said CIEL Staff Attorney, Allie Silverman. “As the first major climate meeting held in the Amazon Basin, we expected a better result on forests, land use, and rights issues in Lima.”

Earlier this week, on International Human Rights Day, people marched on the streets of Lima in defense of their right to a healthy environment. The voices and momentum of the climate movement are growing stronger, demanding greater ambition in the targets to be put on the table in March 2015 and in the new climate agreement to be adopted next year in Paris.

“Acknowledging climate change as one of the greatest human rights challenges of our time, over 200 organizations have called for rights to be fully integrated in these negotiations and in the new climate agreement,” said Alyssa Johl, Senior Attorney at CIEL. “However, the Lima outcome does not adequately respond to these calls.”

The Lima outcome does not reflect the much-needed progress that the world needs and had hoped to see in Lima. “The road to an adequate climate agreement in Paris will be an uphill one, but we will advocate for ambitious, rights-based action every step of the way. The climate crisis before us requires nothing less,” concluded Amerasinghe.