The Secretary-General of the National Human Rights Council (CNDH), Mr. Mounir Bensalah, participated in the proceedings of the International Conference on Climate Change and Human Rights, which was organized on 21 and 22 February 2023, in Doha, Qatar.

On this occasion, CNDH Secretary-General stressed that climate change affects, directly and indirectly, several rights enshrined in national constitutions and international instruments, mainly the right to life, the right to development, the right to food and the right to water, etc. Mr. Bensalah shed light on the States’ responsibility in taking effective measures to prevent and address these climate impacts. He also added that climate justice requires that actions related to countering climate change be harmonized with international human rights conventions, obligations and standards.

Within the same context, Mr. Bensalah presented the CNDH’s experience in protecting and promoting human rights, in light of the growing climate change challenges. He noted that the CNDH seeks to approach the enjoying fundamental rights issues considering several harmful practices to the environment that would affect individuals' enjoyment of their rights. Thus, the CNDH conducted actions such as monitoring, receiving complaints and interacting with them, strengthening capacities, and submitting recommendations to relevant authorities. Mr. Bensalah also highlighted the CNDH’s memorandum entitled “The Right to Water: Approaches to Confronting Water Stress in Morocco,” published this month.

Concluding his statement, Mr. Bensalah called National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs), under the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI), to address the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat to obtain observer status, which will allow them to participate in several sessions of the Climate Change Conference and its preparatory meetings, starting from the 28th session to be held in the United Arab Emirates this year.