Podcasts

Human Rights and Climate Change with Helena Kennedy and Eleanor Stein

Can the Victims of Climate Change Be Afforded the Same Rights as Victims of War Crimes?

International humanitarian law recognizes the human rights of the victims of war crimes, the millions who’ve been displaced and deprived of food and medicine, forced to leave their homes and subject to violence in refugee camps. But what about the victims of climate change? Today’s show focuses on the work of two extraordinary attorney’s, Britain’s Helena Kennedy from the House of Lords, and Eleanor Stein, from the NY State Public Service Commission, experts in climate change and human rights law, who talk about Urgenda vs. The Netherlands, a ground-breaking legal case in which, for the first time ever, a court recognizes the human rights of victims of climate change and orders a government to eliminate green house gases.