Country Profile: Maldives

The database hosted on ClimateRights.org generates a country profile for all 196 UN member states and the European Union that identifies the legal obligations and political commitments made by each country related to the integration of human rights considerations in climate action, relevant information that the country has included in past national reports to UN climate and human rights bodies, and/or recommendations that these bodies have made to the state.

All UN members have existing human rights obligations in the context of climate change, and the vast majority of governments have already called for a better integration of human rights in climate responses, highlighted barriers for implementation or good practices, and/or received specific guidance from specialised UN institutions.

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(This profile was last updated on 20th October 2017)

Country Profile Overview: Maldives

… has signed the Geneva Pledge for Human Rights in Climate Action;

Ratification of Human Rights-related Instruments relevant in the context of climate change

…ratified the following human rights instruments with relevance in the context of climate:

  • International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
  • International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the ICCPR 1st optional protocol
  • Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the CEDAW optional protocol
  • Convention on the Rights of the Child
  • International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
  • Convention Against Torture and the CAT optional protocol
  • Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities

For more specific information and references regarding the human rights obligation of this country under international law, please visit             http://forestdefender.org/country/Maldives

Positions in the procedures of the UN Human Rights Council

…sponsored the following Human Rights Council’s resolution(s) on Human Rights and Climate Change:

  • HRC Resolution 7/23 (2008)
  • HRC Resolution 10/4 (2009)
  • HRC Resolution 18/22 (2011)
  • HRC resolution 26/27 (2014)
  • HRC resolution 29/11 (2015)
  • HRC resolution 35/20 (2017)

UPR Universal Periodic Review (see Part 2 of the country profile for any reference mentioned in this section);

… referred to climate change in its national report(s) to the UPR: for the first UPR cycle; for the 2nd UPR cycle,

… accepted or noted a recommendation related to climate change during its review under the UPR;

… will participate in the UPR in Apr- May 2020, with a deadline for submission of information by civil society on 19.09.2019

Climate change as an issue raised during the review of the country by UN Human Rights institutions (see Part 2 of the country profile for any reference mentioned in this section):

… was the subject of additional recommendations and information in a country-specific report by the following UN Special Procedures: Representative of the Secretary-General on the human rights of internally displaced persons 2012 and Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living (see Part 2 of the country profile);

Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)

… was asked by the committee to provide additional information on human rights protection in the context of climate change; … was the subject of concerns or concluding observations by the committee on the protection of human rights in the context of climate change;

Obligations, statements and reports in the context of UN Climate Negotiations

… has ratified the Paris Agreement which recognizes the need for parties to promote and respect human rights when taking climate action;

… emphasized the following principle(s) in its Nationally Determined Contributions submitted under the Paris Agreement: food security,

… mentioned Human Rights in its National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPAs); … referred to human rights in a national communication submitted to the UNFCCC after 2010 (see Part 2 of the country profile);

… mentioned human rights in written submission to the UNFCCC in relation to the following issues: the need for climate policies to respect human rights (2010) the need for Clean Development Mechanism projects to respect human rights (2013) the linkages between the Long Term Global Goal and human rights (2015) the need for capacity building to support countries in implementing human rights-based actions (2016).

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