NIHR Participates in a Dialogue Seminar on "Peer Learning for National Human Rights Institutions in Preparation for the 28th Conference of the Parties to Climate Change"
The Secretariat-General of the National Institution for Human Rights (NIHR) has participated in a dialogue seminar on "Peer Learning for National Human Rights Institutions in Preparation for the 28th Conference of the Parties on Climate Change", which was organised by the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI), via video conference, with the participation of a number of experts and specialists in the field of climate and environment.
The seminar was opened by Ms. Katharina Rose, representative of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) in Geneva, with a speech in which she welcomed the participants and provided an overview of the dialogue seminar and its objectives. Then, a number of speakers presented working papers on the experiences of national human rights institutions in previous conferences of the parties, and the opportunities and challenges facing the participation of national human rights institutions in COP 28 and beyond, in addition to working papers on climate change and the environment, and the role of national human rights institutions on climate change.
During the seminar, the participants reviewed the experience of the Philippines and Morocco regarding their participation in previous conferences of the parties concerned with climate change, exchanged experiences and expertise, and opened the door for discussion.
The organisation of this dialogue seminar coincides with the start of the countdown to the 28th Conference of the Parties, as it has become necessary for national human rights institutions to be prepared to contribute effectively, by strengthening their expertise and capabilities in addressing climate-related human rights challenges, which have a broad influence and mandate that enables them to participate in conferences such as the Conference of the Parties and advance climate and human rights agendas.
It is worth noting that the NIHR in the Kingdom of Bahrain organised an international conference on the right to a healthy and adequate environment under the theme “The Impact of Human Activity on the Right to a Healthy and Suitable Environment: Practices, Challenges and Solutions”, with broad local, regional and international participation, which shed light on the legislation and general concepts of the right to the environment and human rights, and the role of national institutions, governmental and non-governmental organisations and states in preserving environmental rights, as well as official bodies in the same regard, while raising community awareness of the impact of human activity on human rights related to the environment, especially in the Kingdom of Bahrain, encouraging a human rights-based approach to preventing negative environmental impacts, addressing current practices and challenges facing the preservation of the right to the environment, and proposing appropriate solutions to them.
