Climate change is increasingly recognised not just as an environmental issue, but as a human rights issue. In Estonia, the impacts are already visible – winters are warmer, summers are hotter, and extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, and storms are becoming more frequent. These developments infringe the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment as a precondition for the enjoyment of many human rights.
In an effort to protect the environment, countries that are part of the United Nations Paris Agreement, including Estonia, have committed to reducing the negative impacts of climate change. This means that the State must act in a specific, strictly regulated and controlled way to evaluate and report the sources of greenhouse gas emissions, to limit such emissions, including through regulatory measures, and to adapt to new realities to prevent the current and future negative human rights impacts of climate change.
State duties to reduce climate-related negative effects of the activities under their jurisdiction also arise from international human rights law, other relevant environmental treaties, as well as the relevant obligations under customary international law. Therefore, it is not possible to abandon those obligations simply by withdrawing from the Paris Agreement.
About this section
This section of the Guide will explain what human rights might be impacted due to climate change, what the State's obligations are in battling climate change, and what course of action you can take if you believe that your human rights have been violated.