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Climate change is the most difficult and complicated issue humanity has ever faced.
Various actions can contribute to global climate change. Many distinct effects can
happen on Earth as the temperature increases. Temperatures can rise substantially
as a result of climate change, with many different effects on Earth. More floods,
storms, or heavy rain, for example, and also more extreme heat events, are all
possible outcomes. Oceans and rivers have also changed: they have warmed and
become more acidic, glaciers have melted, and sea levels have risen. These changes
will certainly pose difficulties to our environment and society when they occur
more regularly in the next decades.

The effect of human activity on the atmosphere is known as the greenhouse effect,
and it is both natural and required for life on Earth to exist. Human activities have
emitted significant volumes of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the
atmosphere over the last century. Greenhouse gases act as a blanket over the
globe, trapping energy and warming the atmosphere.

Some climatic changes are unavoidable, and there is little that can be done about
them. Carbon dioxide, for example, may persist in the atmosphere for over a
century. Changes in human water supply, agriculture, power, and transportation
networks, the natural environment, and even our personal health and safety may
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all be impacted by a warmer climate. Global warming refers to the abnormally rapid
rise in the Earth's average surface temperature during the last century. It is largely
attributable to greenhouse gases generated by humanity burning fossil fuels. The
increased emission and build-up of greenhouse gas emissions in the Ecological
atmosphere is causing global warming. The remaining 70% is absorbed primarily by
land and water, with the remainder absorbed by the atmosphere.

Our earth is heated by solar energy that has been absorbed by the atmosphere. We
can make the Earth's atmosphere a more efficient greenhouse by boosting
greenhouse gas concentrations. Rapid global warming, such as what we are

witnessing now, is unprecedented in our known universe. Some of the elements

that influence climates - volcanic eruptions and variations in solar radiation - are
natural.

When snow and ice melt, the Earth's temperature warms, allowing less energy to
be reflected. Methane and carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere by
plants and animals. Some people have the ability to generate greenhouse gases,
which trap heat and contribute to global warming.

If a forest of equal size develops again, it will remove approximately the same
number of carbon from the air as was generated during the fire. Loss of sea ice,
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quicker sea-level rise, and more extreme heatwaves are some of the impacts
anticipated by scientists inside the previous corresponding period of global change.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the impact of

climate change on specific areas will fluctuate wildly and depending on the ability
of broader social and environmental processes to mitigate or accept change (The
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change).

This century has been the hottest since 1880. 2010 and 2005 were the warmest
years on record, as per the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. If we
do not cut emissions from burning fossil fuels, the world might warm by another
7.2 degrees Fahrenheit in the twenty-first century (The National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration). The impact of rising temperatures on the earth's
climatic patterns as well as all living creatures will be profound. In the previous 150
years, the industrial activities that underpin our contemporary civilization have
increased levels of carbon dioxide from 280 to 379 parts per million (The
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change).
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Treaty
In 1992, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
was established to avert catastrophic climate change. Nearly 200 countries
committed to safeguard the climate system for current and future generations
based on their "common but differentiated duties and separate capabilities" under
the Convention.

New components have been incorporated into the international structure of

climate change talks during the course of consecutive Conferences of the Parties,
or COPs (Conference of the Parties). Specific issues, such as mitigation finance,
climate change adaptation, and technical transfer, can be addressed with these
aspects.

Since 1992 other milestones have been reached in the course of negotiations at
events like the COP (Conference of the Parties). Below are the most significant
agreements on climate change:

 The setting of the target for developed countries is to provide 100 billion dollars
for climate finance projects in developing countries.
 The formalization of the goal to limit the global temperature rise to below 2ºC
compared to the pre-industrial era.
 The second period of commitment arising from the Kyoto Protocol runs until
2020, through what is known as the Doha Amendment (COP18).
 The launch of the Marrakesh Partnership for Global Climate Action as a platform
to involve the general public and increase their role in the process of global
climate action.
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 Montreal Protocol, 1987

Despite not being designed to address climate change the Montreal Protocol was
a landmark environmental agreement that served as a precedent for future climate
diplomacy.

The pact was finally approved by every country in the world, requiring countries to
stop producing chemicals that harm the ozone layer, such as chlorofluorocarbons
(CFCs). Nearly all of these ozone-depleting chemicals have been eliminated thanks
to the procedure.

 Kyoto Protocol, 2005

The Kyoto Protocol was the first legally binding climate pact, signed in 1997 and
coming into force in 2005. It established a mechanism to track nations' progress
and required rich countries to cut emissions by an average of 5% below 1990 levels.
The pact, however, does not require emerging nations to take action, including big
carbon emitters China and India. The US signed the deal in 1998, but it was never
approved, and it later revoked its signature.
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Agreement
 The Paris Agreement

It is an international pact on climate change that is legally binding. It was agreed by

196 Parties at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP 21) in Paris
on December 12, 2015, and went into effect on November 4, 2016. Its objective is
to keep global warming considerably below 2 degrees Celsius, ideally 1.5, relative
to pre-industrial levels. Countries seek to accomplish global peaking of greenhouse
gas emissions as soon as feasible to establish a climate neutrality world by mid-
century in order to meet this long-term temperature objective.

The Paris Agreement's implementation necessitates economic and societal

transformations based on the greatest available research. The Paris Agreement is
based on a five-year cycle of countries taking progressively aggressive climate
action. Countries must submit their climate action plans, known as nationally
defined contributions, by 2020. (NDCs). Countries outline measures they will take
to decrease greenhouse gas emissions in their NDCs in order to meet the Paris
Agreement's targets. Countries also detail the steps they will take to enhance
resilience and adapt to the effects of rising temperatures in their NDCs. The Paris
Agreement calls for nations to establish and submit long-term low-carbon
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development plans by 2020 in order to properly define their efforts toward the
long-term goal (LT-LEDS).

It requires all signatory nations to submit National Climate Contributions, which

must be revised on a regular basis and made more ambitious in order to reach the
long-term objective.

The Paris Agreement outlines a goal of fully achieving technological development

and transfer in order to improve climate change resilience while also lowering GHG
emissions. It creates a technological framework to offer overall guidance to the
Technology Mechanism's efficient operation. Through its policy and
implementation arms, the mechanism is boosting technology development and
transfer.

Many of the difficulties posed by climate change are beyond the capabilities of
many poor countries. As a result, the Paris Agreement places a strong focus on
developing nations' climate-related capacity-building efforts and calls on all rich
countries to increase their assistance for such efforts.

It has features that allow for both emissions trading and advancements in the
development of carbon pricing regimes. The potential of an international transfer
of mitigation outcomes (international emissions trading) and the construction of a
mitigation and sustainable development mechanism are established under the
category of "cooperative methods."

Although substantial increases in climate change action are required to meet the
Paris Agreement's goals, the years since its entrance into effect have already
inspired low-carbon solutions and new markets. Carbon neutrality objectives are
being set by an increasing number of nations, regions, cities, and businesses. Zero-
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carbon solutions are becoming more competitive across a variety of economic

sectors that account for 25% of total emissions.

Resolution
By successive and targeted justifications of the aspects climate change affects
human rights, including the adoption of a series of resolutions related to climate
change and human rights, the Human Rights Council has contributed to raising
awareness of the links between human rights and climate change.

The following climate change resolutions have been adopted by the Council:

1. Resolution 47/24 (July 2021):

The UN's Human Rights Council has agreed to include a panel discussion on climate
change and human rights in its yearly program of work. It urged States and relevant
parties to continue discussing the possibility of establishing a new special process
mandate for the two areas, which will run from 2023 until 2030.

2. Resolution 44/7 (July 2020):

The UN's Human Rights Council has asked the Office of the High Commissioner for
Human Rights to conduct a study on the impact of climate change on older people.
A panel debate on the subject will be held at the Council's 47th session later this
year, it has announced.
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3. Resolution 42/21 (July 2019):

The UN's Human Rights Council has asked the Office for International Development
(OID) to look at how to protect the rights of people with disabilities in the face of
climate change.

4. Resolution 38/4 (July 2018):

The Council agreed that including a gender-responsive strategy into climate policy
would improve the efficacy of climate change mitigation and adaptation, and
requested an analytical research as well as a panel debate on the subject.

5. Resolution 35/20 (July 2017):

The UN Human Rights Council has called for a debate on the impact of climate
change on the rights of migrants and refugees. It has also requested a report on
human rights protection inadequacies in the context of cross-border migration and
displacement, particularly from countries affected by climate change.

6. Resolution 32/33 (July 2016):

The Council urged Parties to incorporate human rights into climate change
mitigation and adaptation efforts, and asked for a panel debate on climate change's
negative impact on children's rights.
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7. Resolution 29/15 (July 2015):

The Council highlighted the need of continuing to address the negative effects of
climate change on all people, and asked for a panel debate and analytical research
on how climate change affects people's right to health.

8. Resolution 26/27 (July 2014):

The UN's Human Rights Council has called for international cooperation to address
the negative effects of climate change on human rights, especially the right to
development. It called for discussion, capacity building, financial resource
mobilization, technology transfer and other kinds of cooperation to assist climate
change adaptation and mitigation.

9. Resolution 18/22 (September 2011):

Human rights duties, standards, and principles, the Council stated, have the
potential to influence and improve international and national policy-making in the
field of climate change, supporting policy coherence, legitimacy, and long-term
consequences.

10. Resolution 10/4 (March 2009):

Climate change-related consequences have a variety of direct and indirect

consequences for the effective realization of human rights, according to the
Council, and these effects will be felt most severely by those sectors of the
population who are already vulnerable.
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11. Resolution 7/23 (March 2008):

The Council expressed concern that climate change "poses an urgent and far-
reaching threat to individuals and communities across the globe," and urged that
the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) conduct a study on
the link between climate change and human rights.

Lastly, we must all play a role in preventing global warming and other impacts of
climate change. If the earth's temperatures continue to increase, all living beings
on the planet will die extinct as a result of the extreme heat. This planet would be
cooler and the present high temperatures would be reduced if humanity
contributed to reducing global warming. This planet would be a safer place to live
if everyone took a stance and tried to stop most of the climatic changes that are
occurring.
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Relevant sources
1. (https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-
agreement n.d.)
2. (https://www.ukessays.com/essays/environmental-sciences/causes-of-
climate-change.php n.d.)
3. (https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/HRAndClimateChange/Pages/Resolutions.a
spx n.d.)