Rising global temperatures are wreaking havoc around the world, leaving a trail of destruction from Kyoto to Kerala. But those least responsible for greenhouse gas emissions are also those most struggling to survive the harmful impacts of climate change.

While the full impact of Cyclone Idai is still unknown, the death toll from drowning, dehydration, hunger and cholera will be in the many thousands. One million people in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe are thought to have been displaced. Entire neighbourhoods of victims have been left homeless after the city of Beira was wiped out.

The United Nations Human Rights Council has recognised that climate change “poses an immediate and far-reaching threat to people and communities around the world and has implications for the full enjoyment of human rights.” In the Paris Agreement, parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) acknowledged that they should – when taking action to address climate change – respect, promote and consider their respective obligations with regard to human rights.

The UNFCCC has mandated the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage associated with Climate Change Impacts to facilitate financing to address the harms caused by climate change.

This report evaluates whether market, state and innovative financing proposals for repairing the harmful impacts of climate change comply with five key human rights principles.

Report by ActionAid