Local Rights Claims in International Negotiations: Transnational Human Rights Networks at the Climate Conferences

Citation

Schapper A (2018) Local Rights Claims in International Negotiations: Transnational Human Rights Networks at the Climate Conferences. In: Duyck S, Jodoin S & Johl A (eds.) Routledge Handbook on Human Rights and Climate Governance. London: Routledge, pp. 43-57. https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9781315312576

Abstract
Every year, member states of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiate at the Conference of the Parties (COP) to review the convention’s implementation, to adopt legal instruments or to make additional institutional arrangements. During the negotiation process, governments organize themselves in blocs and coalitions in order to combine strengths, increase their influence and push forward their common agendas. Civil society organizations (CSOs) can participate in UNFCCC negotiations as accredited observers representing the interests of particular societal groups. To be able to make oral interventions at the negotiations, CSOs need to be recognized as an official constituency by the UNFCCC’s Secretariat. Whereas the UNFCCC has initially been characterized by strong engagement of business stakeholders and environmental organizations, other actors have now entered the scene, among them Indigenous Peoples, faith-based groups, gender advocates and human rights activists often organized in transnational advocacy networks (TANs).