UN Report Underscores Human Rights Crisis Tied to Fossil Fuels – Calls for Urgent, Just Transition

It is imperative that States heed the recommendations of the Human Rights Treaty Bodies (HRTBs) as part of a rights-based approach to climate governance and fossil fuels phaseout.

International Law is not dead. UN Treaty Bodies play a vital and distinct role in assessing whether States are complying with their international obligations, and whether their policies, actions, or omissions effectively respond to the interconnected planetary crises of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss.

In relation to fossil fuels, HRTBs are uniquely positioned to provide authoritative guidance on how States’ human rights duties apply to the urgent need to “defossilize” our economies. 

Through their country-specific reporting and review processes, HRTBs can issue tailored, context-sensitive recommendations that reflect each country’s particular challenges and circumstances, ensuring that global standards are applied with national relevance.

As the UN Special Rapporteur has affirmed, this function is essential to ensuring that climate action and fossil fuel phaseout are guided by justice, equity, and legal accountability. The Report further emphasizes that “comprehensive, coherent action on the fossil fuel phaseout within this decade is necessary to ensure a liveable future for all, as an urgent precondition for a just transition and for effective human rights protection in the context of current planetary crises.” 

In response, Maria Alejandra Vesga Correa, Legal Officer at Oil Change International, said: 

“This report confirms what frontline communities have long known: fossil fuel expansion is incompatible with human rights. A rapid and equitable phase-out is not only a climate imperative, it’s a moral one.

“We welcome the report, particularly in highlighting the role of public finance within the current international legal framework governing the fossil fuel-based economy. To secure a just transition, public finance must shift away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy systems that enable communities and the planet to thrive.”

Sources: 

• https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/ahrc5942-imperative-defossilizing-our-economies-report-special 
• https://oilchange.org/publications/un-submission-on-fossil-fuel-based-economy-and-human-rights/ 
• https://oilchange.org/publications/eca-legal-opinion/ 
• IPCC, 2023: Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change 2023: Synthesis Report.Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Core Writing Team, H. Lee and J. Romero (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, pp. 1-34, doi: 10.59327/IPCC/AR6-9789291691647.001  
• IEA (2023), Net Zero Roadmap: A Global Pathway to Keep the 1.5 °C Goal in Reach, IEA, Paris, p. 16, https://www.iea.org/reports/net-zero-roadmap-a-global-pathway-to-keep-the-15-0c-goal-in-reach
• David Tong and Kelly Trout, Big Oil Reality Check (BORC), Oil Change International,  pp 46-47, https://www.oilchange.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/big_oil_reality_check_may_21_2024.pdf