Climate wrongs and human rights. Putting people at the heart of climate-change policy

This briefing proposes that human rights principles provide a guideline for dealing with climate change. The document emphasises that the human rights community must become more engaged in national and international climate-policy debates and human rights law and institutions must evolve much faster to rise to the unprecedented international challenge that climate change creates. Most notably, it argues that:

• mitigation policies must not violate vulnerable people's rights
• the most affected populations must have an effective voice in setting mitigation targets and policies
  results in implementing mitigation targets should be reported publicly
• countries must take emissions cuts in line with their responsibility for causing climate change and their capability to assist.

Based on human-rights principles, Oxfam calls for urgent action on the following hotspots to be addressed in policy making:

Rich countries must:

• lead in cutting global emissions
• provide the finance needed for international adaptation to climate change and for low-carbon technologies in developing countries
• halt their biofuel policies

Developing countries must:

• focus their adaptation strategies on the most vulnerable groups
• have ownership in managing international adaptation funds

Companies must:

• call on governments to act with far greater urgency in cutting global emissions
• help building communities’ climate resilience