Rights-based approach to biodiversity and climate action

• Department of Law

The Environmental Law and Governance Working Group hosts a discussion with Dr. Niak Sian Koh to unpack concepts and policy processes in advancing ideas around a human rights-based approach for biodiversity and climate.

Over the past 50 years, we have lost more than two-thirds of the world's wildlife populations. None of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, the previous decade's global biodiversity goals under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), were fully met. Biodiversity policies are not always effective, as their use may have adverse effects on people and nature. In this session, I first discuss the role of the CBD in global environmental governance and examine challenges faced across implementation, compliance, and enforcement. I explore review mechanisms in human rights law, and identify strategies that can be used to encourage compliance with biodiversity law.

Next, I discuss a human-rights based approach to biodiversity action that has been recognized under the CBD's Global Biodiversity Framework. Despite being explicitly referenced in biodiversity and climate policy, there remains a gap from both academia and policymaking as to how a human rights-based approach can be implemented by governments, businesses, funders, and civil society. This session welcomes a discussion to unpack concepts and policy processes in advancing ideas around a human rights-based approach for biodiversity and climate.