North vis-à-vis South: Polar Perspectives amid a Climate Crisis

Introduction There is a slow, albeit steady, evolution towards the significance and development of economic, social, and cultural rights (ESCRs), moving from international to regional and national systems. Constitutionally elevating ESCRs to fundamental human rights places substantive meaning on the notion of indivisibility and justiciability of all human rights. Climate change poses a threat to this elevated set of human rights, disproportionately impacting the historically marginalized and underserved communities on a global scale. Moreso, progress towards sustainable development for the Global South has been negatively impacted by climate change disasters – severe weather conditions such as droughts and floods have become more frequent and destructive. Consequently, the financing gap and general capacity of the Global North and Global South countries to progressively realize ESCRs is ever widening. It is a major concern that the climate emergency the world is confronted with is a problem to which the Global South has played a minimal role contributing. Rapid industrialization, wealth creation, and improved living standards in the Global North have been spurred by a tainted history of unsustainable natural resource extraction and unsustainable industrial practices much to the detriment of the Global South, which has given rise to the notion of climate justice. Climate justice is not an exclusively environmental concern but also has implications for the implementation and protection of fundamental civil and political rights, as well as ESCRs. On 28 July 2022, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) through resolution A/RES/76/300 confirmed the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution recognizing for the first time that access to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment is a human right.