Climate change adaptation through the human rights-based approach: Reflections on the African human rights system

Abstract

The African continent remains one of the regions most vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change, due to its unique geography, low levels of economic development, high levels of poverty, colonial legacies, weak governance systems and social inequalities. The impacts of climate change are already being felt across the continent, and their intensity and frequency are projected to increase. The African Union and its institutions, including human rights bodies, must play a leading role in ensuring that member states adopt appropriate regional and national climate change legislation to guide climate action. Using a doctrinal legal method, this article examines the potential content of a human rights-based approach to climate change adaptation in Africa. It advances an original, structured normative framework, grounded in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, that identifies specific rights holders, duty bearers, and corresponding state obligations. While arguing for the immediate application of a human rights-based approach, the article calls on the AU to develop a climate-specific protocol anchored in human rights standards, given the novelty of the climate crisis and the legal innovations required to address adaptation and resilience effectively on the continent.