Climate change is an existential threat for people and the planet. Its harmful effects undermine the full enjoyment and realization of all human rights. Yet, no dedicated mechanism at the Human Rights Council addresses climate change holistically.

As early as 2010, civil society organizations, echoed by member states of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) and the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), called upon the Human Rights Council to establish a mandate for a new UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Climate Change, to be instituted in 2021 and to better protect the rights of those on the frontlines of climate impacts.

This report presents key recommendations from civil society and Indigenous Peoples on the creation of this mandate, collected through regional consultations across the world, which were coordinated by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) and Franciscans International (FI) in cooperation with the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) Geneva Office.