The 12th WHRCF Declaration
Climate Crisis and Human Rights
The 12th World Human Rights Cities Forum 2022 considered the global climate crisis, with a particular focus on the local impacts and actions from a human rights perspective. The Forum’s participants together:
1. recognize and sincerely welcome that this year’s Forum was held in person rather than virtually, marking significant progress in overcoming the Covid-19 pandemic. We would also like to convey our warm gratitude to the hosts and organizers for providing the opportunity to meet Human Rights Cities experts and officials from around the world.
2. agree with UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who stressed that “Our planet is burning” and that we must end “our suicidal war against nature” during the 77th UN General Assembly.
3. reaffirm that climate change has moved beyond “change” into a “crisis”, exacerbating inequalities against women, persons with disabilities, LGBTQI+ communities, minorities, indigenous people, migrants and refugees, and other vulnerable groups, thus adversely impacting human dignity and human rights such as to life, food, health and education.
4. urge local authorities to share knowledge, information, and action plans for responding to the climate crisis, based on the overarching premise that the climate crisis can only be overcome through solidarity and active communication.
5. recognize the varying contributions to the crisis by different states, cities and overall local governments, and call them to assume their responsibilities. We also encourage those who must accept greater responsibility, such as the private sector, developed countries and local governments with access to greater resources.
6. highlight that the provisions of the Paris Agreement of the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference, the UN Human Rights Council Resolution (A/HRC/RES/7/23) and the 2022 IPCC report must be implemented, including by local governments, who have an obligation to align national priorities with international targets.
7. underscore the significant role that cities and local governments play in achieving international targets, including limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 °C, and urge them to incorporate a human rights-based approach to climate action.
8. boost cities as unique spaces to achieve climate justice by fostering inclusion and harnessing the fruits of diversity while calling for local governments to guarantee that the most vulnerable populations are not “left behind”. Legislation frameworks should depend on societal drivers that bring to the fore indigenous knowledge systems and intergenerational approaches, specifically highlighting the critical role of youth as changemakers, in order to cultivate renewable and regenerative strategies to alleviate the climate crisis.
9. expect that proposals made by the public at the seven thematic sessions led by the Korean civil society covering climate crisis and biodiversity, social economy, LGBTQI + communities, children and youth, women, UN SDGs and human rights, and persons with disabilities are incorporated into local laws, policies, and programs.
10.recognize that climate finance, a key to making necessary local adaptation and mitigation possible, needs to be managed with good governance principles and human rights considerations in order to be effective and efficient and that disaster risk reduction and management at local and central government levels needs a systematic human rights-based approach in order to improve the protection of people and to avoid harming human rights in times of crisis.
11. call for the dismantlement of structural barriers that limit the participation of various stakeholders, especially youth communities, in national and local scale initiatives, by the development and implementation of policy and legal framework that guarantees youth participation. The youth’s message is clear – nothing about us without us.
12. value the time have spent together in person this year and look forward to meeting again at the 13th World Human Rights Cities Forum in Gwangju in 2023.
The participants of the 12th World Human Rights Cities Forum in 2022 commit to a fourpoint action plan as follows.
1. We commit to integrating a human rights-based approach in the development of laws, policies and action plans related to tackling the climate crisis.
2. We commit to promoting climate justice through citizen engagement and inclusive governance.
3. We commit to sharing relevant knowledge, resources and good practice through dialogue, cooperation and collaboration at local and global levels.
4. We commit to making use of existing frameworks, including the UNESCO Declaration on Ethical Principles in relation to climate change, and to contribute to the development of additional resources and tools, such as the OHCHR guidelines on using a human rights approach in local governance.
The 12th WHRCF Declaration
Climate Crisis and Human Rights
The 12th World Human Rights Cities Forum 2022 considered the global climate crisis, with a particular focus on the local impacts and actions from a human rights perspective. The Forum’s participants together:
1. recognize and sincerely welcome that this year’s Forum was held in person rather than virtually, marking significant progress in overcoming the Covid-19 pandemic. We would also like to convey our warm gratitude to the hosts and organizers for providing the opportunity to meet Human Rights Cities experts and officials from around the world.
2. agree with UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who stressed that “Our planet is burning” and that we must end “our suicidal war against nature” during the 77th UN General Assembly.
3. reaffirm that climate change has moved beyond “change” into a “crisis”, exacerbating inequalities against women, persons with disabilities, LGBTQI+ communities, minorities, indigenous people, migrants and refugees, and other vulnerable groups, thus adversely impacting human dignity and human rights such as to life, food, health and education.
4. urge local authorities to share knowledge, information, and action plans for responding to the climate crisis, based on the overarching premise that the climate crisis can only be overcome through solidarity and active communication.
5. recognize the varying contributions to the crisis by different states, cities and overall local governments, and call them to assume their responsibilities. We also encourage those who must accept greater responsibility, such as the private sector, developed countries and local governments with access to greater resources.
6. highlight that the provisions of the Paris Agreement of the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference, the UN Human Rights Council Resolution (A/HRC/RES/7/23) and the 2022 IPCC report must be implemented, including by local governments, who have an obligation to align national priorities with international targets.
7. underscore the significant role that cities and local governments play in achieving international targets, including limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 °C, and urge them to incorporate a human rights-based approach to climate action.
8. boost cities as unique spaces to achieve climate justice by fostering inclusion and harnessing the fruits of diversity while calling for local governments to guarantee that the most vulnerable populations are not “left behind”. Legislation frameworks should depend on societal drivers that bring to the fore indigenous knowledge systems and intergenerational approaches, specifically highlighting the critical role of youth as changemakers, in order to cultivate renewable and regenerative strategies to alleviate the climate crisis.
9. expect that proposals made by the public at the seven thematic sessions led by the Korean civil society covering climate crisis and biodiversity, social economy, LGBTQI + communities, children and youth, women, UN SDGs and human rights, and persons with disabilities are incorporated into local laws, policies, and programs.
10.recognize that climate finance, a key to making necessary local adaptation and mitigation possible, needs to be managed with good governance principles and human rights considerations in order to be effective and efficient and that disaster risk reduction and management at local and central government levels needs a systematic human rights-based approach in order to improve the protection of people and to avoid harming human rights in times of crisis.
11. call for the dismantlement of structural barriers that limit the participation of various stakeholders, especially youth communities, in national and local scale initiatives, by the development and implementation of policy and legal framework that guarantees youth participation. The youth’s message is clear – nothing about us without us.
12. value the time have spent together in person this year and look forward to meeting again at the 13th World Human Rights Cities Forum in Gwangju in 2023.
The participants of the 12th World Human Rights Cities Forum in 2022 commit to a fourpoint action plan as follows.
1. We commit to integrating a human rights-based approach in the development of laws, policies and action plans related to tackling the climate crisis.
2. We commit to promoting climate justice through citizen engagement and inclusive governance.
3. We commit to sharing relevant knowledge, resources and good practice through dialogue, cooperation and collaboration at local and global levels.
4. We commit to making use of existing frameworks, including the UNESCO Declaration on Ethical Principles in relation to climate change, and to contribute to the development of additional resources and tools, such as the OHCHR guidelines on using a human rights approach in local governance.