Transnational Human Rights Advocacy for Local Claims in International Climate Agreements

Abstract

The relationship between climate change and human rights is complex: The consequences of climate change lead to adverse effects on the right to life, the right to self-determination and the rights to food, adequate housing and health. Climate policy implementation, however, can also infringe on the rights of local population groups. Against this background, transnational advocacy networks (TANs) advocate for an institutionalization of human rights in the international climate regime. In this article, I investigate the activities of TANs to explain why and how human rights become anchored in climate agreements. I argue that information delivery from local community groups to international state negotiations, persuasion mechanisms and the boomerang pattern explain increased institutional interaction between the human rights and the climate regime. My research is based on expert interviews, a content analysis of primary documents and participant observations at COP 19 in Warsaw (2013) and COP 21 in Paris (2015).