Civil Society Update – Seminar on Addressing the Adverse Impacts of Climate Change on the Full Enjoyment of Human

Civil Society Section
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

Seminar on Addressing the Adverse Impacts of Climate Change
on the Full Enjoyment of Human Rights

23 – 24 February 2012
Room XII (12), Palais des Nations, Geneva

Dear All,

On behalf of the OHCHR Human Rights and Economic and Social Issues Section, we are pleased to send you the following message.

The “Human Rights and Climate Change” resolution (18/22) led by the Philippines and Bangladesh was adopted by the Human Rights Council on 30 September 2011. It was adopted without a vote with 43 cosponsors, including Costa Rica, Germany, the Maldives and Spain.

Pursuant to resolution 18/22, OHCHR is convening a seminar to “(a)ddress the adverse impacts of climate change on the full enjoyment of human rights, with a view to following up on the call for respecting human rights in all climate change-related actions and policies, and forging stronger interface and cooperation between the human rights and climate change communities”. The seminar will build on the previous work of the Human Rights Council and its mechanisms, such as the Social Forum and relevant special procedures, while taking into account the outcome of the 16th session of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), held in Cancun, Mexico in 2010 (COP16), and issues arising from the 17th session of the Conference of Parties to the Convention held in Durban, South Africa, in 2011 (COP 17).

Resolution 18/22 can be found at the following link : http://goo.gl/nQvo7

The seminar will be a public meeting held in Geneva at the Palais des Nations in RoomXII (12) on 23-24 February 2012 (10:00-18:00 with a lunch break during 13:00-15:00).

The High Commissioner for Human Right will be delivering a Key Note address during the Opening Session on Day 1 along with Dr Kumi Naidoo, Executive Director of Greenpeace. Mary Robinson will be presiding over the meeting on Day 2.

Expert panelists and participants will include representatives from the United Nations Climate Change Secretariat (UNFCCC), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), along with States and other relevant stakeholders, including IOM, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNHCR, UNICEF, WHO,as well as Ms Virginia Dandon, the UN Special Rapporteur on International Solidarity, Mr Chaloka Beyani, the UN Special Rapporteur on Internally Displaced Persons, and environmental law and climate change advocates from academia and civil society.

The Concept Paper and the Draft Agenda can be found at the following links:

Concept Paper: http://goo.gl/24Ohu
Draft Agenda: http://goo.gl/Jy5KU

For additional information please contact: civilsociety@ohchr.org
Best regards,

Civil Society Section
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Tel. +41 (0) 22 – 917 – 9656

Visit our website: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/AboutUs/Pages/CivilSociety.aspx

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