The Connection to Human Rights

 

I would like to take a step back today and look at some of the standards of human rights that have been adopted on a global scale despite not all countries necessarily abiding to these standards. One major document addressing human rights is the United Nations declaration of Human Rights which was proclaimed in december of 1948. I read through these rights with the question in mind of would these rights be affected if the population was dealing with the effects of climate change in specific. There are a few specific articles that stand out when looking at these rights through that lens. The first article that stands out is article three which states that everyone has the right to life. This stands out because the effects of pollution and climate change have caused people to lose their lives. An example of this is the flooding in Pakistan which caused approximately 1500 casualties, which has increased from last week. 

Additionally, article 25 states, “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services…”. The right to an adequate standard of living stood out because impacts of climate change and pollution definitely affect the standard of living for people. This is especially true when it comes to health and access to basic necessities such as food and water. An increase in major severe weather events has been linked to climate change. The flooding in Pakistan exemplifies this. Not only have people lost their lives but they are now facing difficulties with access to food and water. A large portion of the area that was flooded was fertile farmland. Additionally, the flooding has contaminated sources of clean drinking water and forced people to flee their homes in villages in search of dry land. All of these affect the standard of living and it is almost comparable to people who are forced to flee their homes due to conflicts in their home country. 

Pakistan is not the only country that has had to deal with flooding this summer either. A large rainstorm in a coastal town of Italy, on Thursday September 15th, caused flash flooding on the Sanguerone River in Sassoferrato, Italy. At least nine people have died and thousands have been left without power or gas. This storm isn't the first climate related issue to be impacting Italy, as they have also been going through an intense drought. Issues of climate change are affecting the basic human rights of people all across the globe and it will only continue to get worse. The Italian prime minister Mario Draghi even stated, “What happened today shows how the fight against climate change is fundamental”. I completely agree with the prime minister in his statement and would add that it is fundamental not only to help the environment but for the quality of life for people on a global level. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/14/world/asia/pakistan-floods.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/16/world/europe/italy-storms-floods.html

https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights