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EARTHJUSTICE
350.ORG
HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCATES
1 November 2010
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
Palais Wilson, 52 rue des Pâquis, CH-1201 Geneva, Switzerland
Re:
Universal Periodic Review of Papua New Guinea, 2011
Submission of Earthjustice, Human Rights Advocates, and 350.org
I. SUMMARY
1.
Recalling the UN General Assembly Resolution 60/251, adopted on 15 March 2006, the UN Human
Rights Council Resolution 5/1, adopted on 18 June 2007, and the Decision 6/102, adopted on 27 September
2007, and in accordance with the Information Note for NGOs regarding the Universal Periodic Review
mechanism (8 October 2007), Earthjustice et al. respectfully submit to the Human Rights Council the
following information regarding threats to human rights in Papua New Guinea (hereinafter PNG) as a result
of anthropogenic climate change for its universal review.
2.
Via this submission, Earthjustice et al. seek to contribute to the protection of human rights in PNG,
where acute environmental problems related to the extreme vulnerability of this island nation to climate
change threaten the realization of a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of all persons.
The changes in the physical environment causing these threats have been increasing in frequency and
severity over the past several decades and are predicted to increase significantly by the end of the century.1
This will undermine many human rights recognized under international law.
3.
In January 2009, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights published a report on
climate change and human rights concluding that 1) climate change threatens the enjoyment of a broad array
of human rights; 2) human rights obligations provide important protections to individuals who are affected
by climate change; and 3) states have legal obligations to those whose rights are affected by climate change,
and that those obligations extend extraterritorially.2 We seek to inform the Human Rights Council of the
acute impacts that climate change is having and will have on the human rights of all citizens of PNG. We
urge the Human Rights Council to adopt an outcome recognizing that PNG cannot be considered as bearing
the main responsibility for human rights threats suffered by citizens of PNG due to climate change.
Significantly increased international cooperation will be fundamental to help protect the human rights of the
citizens of PNG. The responsibility for adaptation to and mitigation of climate change in PNG should be
shared by major greenhouse gas emitting states, relative to their share of historic and current emissions.
4.
In its Fourth Assessment Report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that
anthropogenic climate change will have significant adverse effects not only on the natural environment, but
also on the human populations that inhabit that environment and rely on its processes and services.3 In PNG,
climate change will:

Threaten rights to food, health, means of subsistence, and the ability to maintain an adequate
standard of living by causing salinification of limited freshwater sources, worsened cyclones,
sea level rise resulting in flooding and overwash during tide surges, and erosion of coastlines and
low-lying areas;
Earthjustice and Others’ Joint Submission for Papua New Guinea: 11th Session of the UPR


Jeopardize rights to food, health, and subsistence livelihoods by damaging fisheries through sea
level rise, increased sea temperature, and exacerbated cyclones; and
Endanger rights to life, property, housing, self-determination, security of person, access to
water, sanitation, and a healthy environment due to increased cyclones, droughts, flooding,
and spread of disease vectors with warmer air and water temperatures.
5.
Increasing changes in the physical environment causing these threats will result in the direct threat to
many of the human rights guaranteed by PNG under international law, including: the right to life, the right to
security of person, the right to water; the right to food, the right to means of subsistence, the right to
sanitation; the right to health, the right to property, the right to housing, the right to self-determination,
the right to an adequate standard of living, and the right to a healthy environment.
II. BACKGROUND
6.
PNG is an island nation comprised of four large islands and roughly 600 smaller, mostly low-lying,
islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean.4 Of its more than 465,000 km2 of land area, 20 percent is subject
to inundation, and 17,000 km is coastline, including islands with high volcanic mountains, low lying coral
atolls.5 PNG’s terrain ranges from mountain glaciers to humid tropical rainforests, swampy wetlands to
pristine coral reefs, and is mostly rugged on the mainland.6 Agriculture and fisheries are key economic
sectors, both of which are can be significantly impacted by climate perturbations.7 PNG has a population of
5,940,775 and a per capita GDP of just $2300.8
7.
PNG is party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the
Convention on the Rights of the Child. Human rights referred to in this document that are not based on those
conventions find their source in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
III. THE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA
8.
In November 2000, the Government of PNG submitted its Initial National Communication (PNG
NC) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The PNG NC highlights the gravity
of the effects of climate change for citizens of PNG:
PNG is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change....The experiences we had during
the 1997/98 prolonged drought has [sic] taught us a number of lessons, especially the
vulnerability of our agricultural crops (both for food and cash), water resources and health
related problems. Further, our fisheries resources, including the 2.4 million km2 of the
exclusive economic zone, although currently abundant and least less exploited, could prove
susceptible to temperature and other changes. Already we are experiencing the increasing
bleaching of our coral reefs as well as impacts of the rising sea levels.9
9.
Agriculture in PNG consists primarily of copra (dried coconut), coffee, cocoa, rubber and palm oil,
as well as subsistence agriculture, based on root crops.10 It employs 85 percent of the labor force and
accounts for 33.5 percent of PNG’s GDP. 11 Approximately 85 percent of households grow crops for
subsistence as well as for commerce.12 As noted in the PNG NC, agriculture is particularly vulnerable to
climatic change:
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Earthjustice and Others’ Joint Submission for Papua New Guinea: 11th Session of the UPR
Agriculture production is very sensitive to climate and climate variability. Crop yields are
influenced by inter-annual variations in weather, nutrient status of soils and temperature.
Climate change will affect soils primarily through changes in soil moisture, soil temperature
and soil organic matter content.13
Climate change threatens Papua New Guineans’ rights to food, means of subsistence, and adequate
standard of living.
10.
Fisheries in the Pacific are predicted to be harmed by the effects of climate change, including sea
temperature rise, increasing acidity, changing currents, and cyclone damage.14 As fish become harder to
catch, citizens will have to reduce the amount of fish (and thus protein essential for good nutrition) in their
diets, or turn to more expensive substitutes.15 Papua New Guineans consume 77 percent of their fish fresh,
87 percent in coastal areas.16 Decline of coral communities will reduce the richness of fish species and will
result in local extinctions and loss of species within key functional groups of fish.17 Since early 2010, one of
the worst mass coral bleaching events on record is threatening the health of the Coral Triangle, a vast marine
region that includes PNG and is home to 76% of all known corals in the world.18 Rising sea surface
temperatures trigger corals to eject their symbiotic algae in response to stress, resulting in coral bleaching,
mass mortality of reefs, and loss of storm protection to coastlines and mangroves.19 According to the PNG
NC:
The levels of fishing effort and fish behavior are directly affected by the weather and sea
surface temperatures. However, the impacts will be complicated by the presence of
anthropogenic factors. Climate change will have the greatest effect on fisheries that are
already stressed, for example, through overexploitation and over capacity.20
Climate change threatens reef and pelagic fish, as well as mangroves and corals—both of which are
key habitat for fish populations—threatening Papua New Guineans’ rights to food, right to a means of
subsistence, right to an adequate standard of living, and right to a healthy environment.
11.
Papua New Guinea suffers from water shortages, particularly during El Niño Southern
Oscillation events.21 As noted in the PNG NC:
Vulnerability to water resources is induced by changes in climatic conditions such as
increases in temperature, rises in sea level and depletion in carbon dioxide gas....These
changes are likely to upset the overall normal water availability, water balance and
hydrological cycle.22
Although water is usually widely available, only 20 percent of the rural population has access to safe, treated
water.23 Many communities rely on water supplies that are frequently contaminated by untreated
wastewater, adversely affecting public health, sanitation, ecosystems, and the economy.24 More than 200
low-lying islands and coral atolls throughout PNG support communities who depend on groundwater for
their supply of water for human consumption and for gardening. Rising sea levels and storm surges enable
saltwater intrusion, which results in water shortages.25 Water shortages due to drought will reduce the
amount of clean water available for public health as well as agriculture.26 Climate change threatens Papua
New Guineans’ rights to water, health, and sanitation.
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Earthjustice and Others’ Joint Submission for Papua New Guinea: 11th Session of the UPR
12.
Trends in extreme temperature across the South Pacific from 1961 to 2003 show increases in the
annual number of hot days and warm nights, particularly following ENSO events.27 Increased heat events
around the world are linked to increased cardiovascular mortality, respiratory illnesses, malnutrition from
crop failures, and altered transmission of infectious diseases.28 According to the World Health Organization,
because of global warming, malaria-carrying mosquitoes are in the mountains of PNG, where they were
never seen before.29 PNG’s NC describes some of the impacts that have already been felt:
PNG has already been buffeted by extreme weather and climate events such as those brought
about by the El Nino in 1997/98 with further changes in temperatures and sea level rise
predicted over the next 100 years. These events will lead to inundation of low lying inland
and coastal areas, including the atoll islands, bleaching and loss of coastal defences. Loss of
wetlands, changes to the fisheries, forestry and agriculture sectors, alteration to water
resources and land use practices and impacts on health, particularly vector borne diseases
such as Malaria other related water and air borne disease are also expected....30 [T]he 1978,
1981/1982 and 1997/1998 El Nino events significantly devastated the country's economy.31
Climate change threatens Papua New Guinean citizens’ rights to health and a healthy environment.
13.
High surface water temperatures intensify the destructive force of cyclones.32 These storms threaten
the lives of Papua New Guineans between December and April.33 Rising sea levels raise the baseline for
storm surges, increasing the risk of catastrophic loss of life and infrastructure onshore and compromising the
freshwater supply.34 According to the PNG NC:
The country is very vulnerable to the effects of climate change and natural and man made
hazards, such as cyclones, storm surges, high abnormal sea tides, floods, fire, mining
activities and droughts. These events are very much linked to the climate change impacts on
the country and its people and are now being an area of priority for the government to
address.35
Climate change threatens rights of Papua New Guinean citizens to life, housing, property, and security
of person.
14.
Rising sea levels pose a serious threat to Papua New Guineans. The IPCC predicts that sea levels
will rise by 0.41 meters, or as much as 0.78 meters before the end of the century if global fossil fuel use is
not significantly reduced.36 This will exacerbate inundation, storm surges, erosion and other coastal hazards,
threatening vital infrastructure and facilities that support island communities. As explained in the PNG NC:
PNG coastline, coastal villages and rural coastal population are vulnerable to sea level rise
and other weather-related manifestations of climate change. The main impacts will be
inundation of coastal wetlands and foreshore areas, bleaching of corals, which will weaken
the coral reefs as barrier protection systems. Loss of wetlands, freshwater sources due to
seawater intrusion, and lands may eventually lead to displacement of communities, resulting
in aggravated [sic] future social problems.37
...Approximately 4500 kilometers out of a total of 17100 kilometers of shoreline are
expected to be moderately to severely inundated, affecting up to 30% of Papua New
Guinea’s population. In addition, there is a danger that some very low-lying islands,
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Earthjustice and Others’ Joint Submission for Papua New Guinea: 11th Session of the UPR
including barrier islands, will be completely submerged. Evidences of this are already
occurring, especially in the outer lying atoll islands of Mortlock, Tasman and the Duke of
York Islands.38
Climate change threatens Papua New Guineans’ rights to security of person, property, housing, and
self-determination.
IV. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
15.
One of the most serious threats to the human rights of the people of PNG is the vulnerability of their
environment to the impacts of climate change. The threats confronting PNG illustrate how the right to an
ecologically healthy environment is fundamental to guaranteeing other rights, such as the rights to life, food,
water, health, security, and a means of subsistence.39
16.
The primary responsibility for the protection of human rights for the citizens of PNG lies in the hands
of the state. However, the causes and impacts of climate change on the human rights of Papua New Guinean
citizens also lies with states that are major emitters of greenhouse gases. PNG is not a significant consumer
of the fossil fuels that are the primary source of greenhouse gas emissions, and it is among those nations that
emit the smallest amounts of greenhouse gases in the world.40 PNG is actively involved in international
climate protection negotiations, including the Copenhagen Accord of 2009,41 and is working to implement
adaptations to climate change.42 The international community – and particularly those nations historically
and currently responsible for the greatest portion of greenhouse gas emissions – has a responsibility to
prevent climate change from undermining the human rights of citizens of PNG and, where particular
circumstances makes that not possible, to mitigate the harms and assist the victims.
17.
Article 22 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights underscores that protection of human rights
requires “national effort and international co-operation.” Every state has the obligation to do no harm either
to its own citizens or to the citizens of another state. Earthjustice et al. therefore respectfully recommends
that the Human Rights Council 1) recognize the responsibility of major greenhouse gas-emitting states for
the human rights threats suffered by the people of PNG, and 2) encourage the international community to
take immediate action to decrease global greenhouse gas emissions and to assist the government of PNG in
its efforts to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change.
Respectfully Submitted,
Earthjustice
Human Rights Advocates
350.org
For further information, please contact:
Martin Wagner or Erika Rosenthal, c/o Earthjustice, 426 17th Street, 6th Floor, Oakland, CA 94612, USA;
+1-510-550-6700, [email protected], [email protected]
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Earthjustice and Others’ Joint Submission for Papua New Guinea: 11th Session of the UPR
1
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Working Group I, Summary for Policymakers, In: Climate
Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis (2007), http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/wg1/ar4wg1-spm.pdf.
2
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Report of the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights on the Relationship Between Climate Change and Human Rights, U.N.
Doc. A/HRC/10/61 (Jan. 15, 2009), http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/climatechange/index.htm.
3
See Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Working Group II, Summary for Policymakers, In:
Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptations and Vulnerability (2007), http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessmentreport/ar4/wg2/ar4-wg2-spm.pdf.
4
Government of Papua New Guinea, Initial National Communication under the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (2000), http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/natc/papnc1.pdf
(hereinafter PNG NC).
5
PNG NC supra note 4 at 5-6.
6
Id. at 5-6.
7
Id. at 1; see also CIA – The World Factbook, Papua New Guinea,
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/pp.html (hereinafter CIA).
8
CIA supra note 6.
9
PNG NC supra note 4 at ii (Foreword).
10
Id. at 17.
11
CIA supra note 6.
12
PNG NC supra note 4 at 17.
13
Id. at 48.
14
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Working Group II, Small Islands. In: Climate Change 2007:
Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability (2007), www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/.../ar4-wg2chapter16.pdf.
15
Johann Bell et al., Planning the Use of Fish for Food Security in the Pacific, 33 Marine Policy 64, 66
(2009)
16
Id.
17
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Working Group II, Cross Chapter Case Study: Impacts of
Climate Change on Coral Reefs In: Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability (2007) at
850-54, http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/wg2/ar4-wg2-xccc.pdf.
18
Worldwide Fund for Nature, Mass coral bleaching closes dive sites, threatens future of world’s most
diverse marine region, Jul. 29, 2010, http://wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/?194338/Mass-coral-bleachingcloses-dive-sites-threatens-future-of-worlds-most-diverse-marine-region.
19
Id.; IPCC 2007 Small Islands supra note 14.
20
PNG NC supra note 4 at 43.
21
Id. at 14; Ministerial Conference on Environment and Development in Asia and the Pacific, Climate
Change and the Pacific Islands, (Sept. 5, 2000),
http://www.unescap.org/mced2000/pacific/background/climate.htm.
22
PNG NC supra note 4 at 45.
23
Id. at 44, 47.
24
See id. at 35.
25
Id. at 46.
26
See id. at 42, 48, 49.
27
IPCC 2007 Small Islands supra note 14 at 691.
28
Jonathan Patz et al., Impact of Regional Climate Change on Human Health, 438 Nature 310 (2005).
29
World Health Organization Western Pacific Region, Press Release: Climate Change is Bad for Your
Health (Apr. 7, 2008), http://www.wpro.who.int/media_centre/press_releases/pr20080704.htm.
30
PNG NC supra note 4 at 2.
31
Id. 4 at 38.
32
IPCC 2007 WG I Summary supra note 1.
33
PNG NC supra note 4 at 7.
34
Id. at 46.
35
Id. at 65.
36
Id. 40, citing IPCC Second Assessment Report.
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Earthjustice and Others’ Joint Submission for Papua New Guinea: 11th Session of the UPR
37
Id. at 41.
Id. at 41.
39
See, e.g., Fatma Zohra Ksentini, Human Rights and the Environment: Final Report by Mrs. Fatma Zohra
Ksentini, Special Rapporteur, U.N. ESCOR, Hum. Rts. Comm., U.N. Doc. E/CN.4/Sub.2/1994/9 (1994).
40
PNG NC at i; World Resources Institute, Earthtrends Environmental Information Searchable Database
(2005 data) http://earthtrends.wri.org/searchable_db/index.php?theme=3.
41
Papua New Guinea Dept. of Prime Minister and National Executive Council, Letter to UNFCCC
Executive Secretary (Preliminary and Conditional Inscription of Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions
and Adaptation Investments) (Feb. 2, 2010),
http://unfccc.int/files/meetings/application/pdf/pngcphaccord_app2.pdf; Papua New Guinea, Dept. of Prime
Minister and National Executive Council, Email to UNFCCC Secretariat, Dec. 23, 2009
http://unfccc.int/files/meetings/application/pdf/pngcphaccord.pdf.
42
PNG NC supra note 4 at 63; see also id. at I (Preface).
38
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