Attachments
Human Rights Council
Fifty-sixth session
18 June–12 July 2024
Agenda item 3
Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil,
political, economic, social and cultural rights,
including the right to development
Summary
The Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change carried out a visit to Honduras from 18 to 27 September 2023, at the invitation of the Government. During the 10-day visit, the Special Rapporteur met with various government officials, United Nations entities, civil society organizations, Indigenous Peoples’ and Afro-descendants’ organizations and communities. He visited Tegucigalpa, Lajas Blancas (Nacaome), Cedeño, Reitoca, La Ceiba, Tocoa, Jilamito, El Progreso, La Lima, San Pedro Sula, Travesía and Bajamar. Honduras has suffered many severe impacts from climate change, and this has significant implications on the enjoyment of human rights in the country. The visit focused on the overall impacts of climate change, climate change displacement, loss and damage, environmental human rights defenders, the impacts of new mitigation technologies such as hydroelectric dams, and the environmental implications of mining. The Special Rapporteur, in his conclusions, welcomed the efforts made by the government but noted that not enough is being done to address the impacts of climate change. He further highlighted the lack of strategic investment in building climate change resilience and establishing long term climate change planning. He made numerous recommendations, including in relation to legislation and policies, mitigation measures such as hydroelectric dams, environmental human rights defenders, and climate change displacement.
The visit was undertaken by the former mandate holder, Ian Fry. As he resigned on 7 December 2023 with immediate effect, the report is submitted by the current mandate holder, Elisa Morgera.
Annex
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change on his visit to Honduras
I. Introduction
- Pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 48/14, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change undertook an official visit to Honduras from 18 to 27 September 2023, at the invitation of the Government. Resolution 48/14 mandates the Special Rapporteur to “raise awareness on the human rights affected by climate change, especially of persons living in developing countries particularly vulnerable to climate change […] and encourage increased global cooperation in this regard (para 2 (e)).”
- The Special Rapporteur chose to visit Honduras as the country has suffered many severe impacts from climate change. Significant proportions of the population have been internally displaced or displaced across international borders due to the impacts of climate change. The Special Rapporteur wanted to particularly look at the human rights implications of climate change displacement during his visit.
- During the 10 day visit, the Special Rapporteur met with the Minister for Human Rights, the Minister for Tourism, the President of the Congress, the head of the Congress Environment Committee and officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Vice Minister of Natural Resources and Environment (SERNA), Honduran Institute of Geology and Mines (INHGEOMIN), the General Direction of Environmental Evaluation and Control (DECA), the National Coordination of Original and Afro-Honduran Peoples (CONAPOA), the Secretary of Agriculture and livestock (SAG), the Forest Conservation, Protected Areas and Wildlife National Institute (ICF), the National Public Prosecutor’s Office (Head of the Special Environmental Prosecutor's Office, Head of the Special Prosecutor's Office for the Protection of Ethnic Groups and Cultural Heritage and Head of the Special Prosecutor's Office for Human Rights), and the National Human Rights Commission (CONADEH). He also met with a number of UN entities, both in person and on-line, as well as with representatives from the diplomatic corps. He further met with many civil society organizations who provided invaluable information on the implications that climate change is having on the enjoyment of human rights for people in Honduras.
- The Special Rapporteur would like to thank the Government of Honduras for their invitation to visit the country and for the cooperation provided to him before and during the visit. He would particularly like to thank the communities he visited for being so accommodating and frank about their circumstances. Many of these brave and resilient people live in constant fear of intimidation and violence. The Special Rapporteur wishes to thank the many civil society organizations who facilitated meetings and who were able provide important information associated with human rights and climate change in Honduras. Lastly, he wishes to express his gratitude to the extraordinary support provided during the visit by the country office of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Honduras, his colleague from the Geneva Office from OHCHR and the interpreters.
- The current report builds on the Special Rapporteur’s preliminary observations[1] shared at a press conference in Tegucigalpa on 27 September 2023.