Brasilia: Secretary-General of the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) HE Sultan bin Hassan Al Jamali, has enjoined for forging ahead in adopting a binding instrument for human rights promotion amid climate change and advancing mechanisms of international protection.
He pointed out that these measures would contribute to deepening a multilateral approach to confront challenges, ensure accountability, and provide redress for those affected by climate change.
Al Jamali was addressing the NHRC-organized expanded consultative forum, in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MECC), on climate justice and the responsibilities of national human rights institutions (NHRIs), held at the State of Qatar's pavilion on the sidelines of the 30th session of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP30), convened in Belem, Brazil.
In this regard, Al Jamali affirmed that the actual enjoyment of human rights and the achievement of SDGs 2030 hinge on the international community's capability to adopt a fair climate framework that involves international cooperation, supports least developed countries, and advances their capacities to counter climate-induced risks.
This forum underscores NHRC's commitment to addressing climate change issues and following up on the Doha Declaration on Climate Change and Human Rights, adopted by the international conference held in Doha in February 2023 under the theme "Climate Change and Human Rights", co-organized by NHRC and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), he noted.
Al Jamali further elaborated that NHRC is well aware of the risks arising from climate change, including the detrimental impacts on the actual enjoyment of human rights.
He indicated that these challenges are ominously compounded by the emergence of other phenomena that collectively pose a multiplying threat to human rights, including the widening discrimination gap, the intensifying marginalization of priority groups, rising poverty and unemployment rates, the staggering increase in the numbers of internally displaced persons and irregular migrants, as well as mounting security and humanitarian challenges.
Dr. Jorge Augusto Nogueira, the Federal Public Defender and Adviser on Environment, Climate, and Human Mobility in Brazil, outlined the measures undertaken by the Office for Environmental Protection in the context of environment- and climate-related human mobility and disasters, foremost among which are the devastating floods that swept through the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul in 2024, affecting approximately 21.5 percent of its population.
He spotlighted the response mechanisms leveraged to facilitate the reconstruction of the region and assist its affected inhabitants.
Prosecutor (Ombudsperson) for the Defense of Human Rights in El Salvador, Raquel Caballero de Guevara, highlighted that her country went through immense challenges and had been able to overcome armed conflicts and economic crises. She expressed pride in her people, who rebuilt the foundations of human rights and reconciliation among them.
Caballero stressed the importance of analyzing and detecting climate change impacts on human rights in all countries, emphasizing that notwithstanding different realities, there are common impacts that affect all due to climate change, such as food and water crises, forced displacement, as well as a multitude of other effects.
The forum broadly tackled three papers. The first focused on NHRIs' role in a human rights-based approach to climate change issues, delivered by the Director of the Programs and Education Department at the NHRC, Hamad Salem Al Hajri.
The second paper was presented by Aline A. Larroyed, Assistant to the Federal Public Defender of Brazil, which drilled down on climate governance and effective redress. The third paper addressed corporate cooperation in protecting human rights and confronting climate change, presented by Rosa Guillermina Sandoval, Deputy Attorney for the Defense of Economic, Social, Cultural, and Environmental Rights in El Salvador.
On the margins of the conference, HE Al Jamali met with the Human Rights Ombudsperson of El Salvador, during which they emphasized the strength of bilateral relations and continued cooperation in sharing professional expertise and coordinating global events.
Both sides conferred on planning joint programs and activities in areas of shared interest, foremost among them women’s rights and vulnerable groups, as well as fostering a culture of peace and organizing joint events on the margins of Human Rights Council sessions in Geneva to promote the global presence of the two institutions.
