With global temperatures hitting record highs, and extreme weather events affecting people around the globe, this year’s UN climate change conference, COP28, is a pivotal opportunity to correct course and accelerate action to tackle the climate crisis. COP28 is where the world will take stock of progress on the Paris Agreement – the landmark climate treaty concluded in 2015 – and chart a course of action to dramatically reduce emissions and protect lives and livelihoods.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the landmark document that enshrines the inalienable rights that everyone everywhere is entitled to as a human being. Climate change poses a serious risk to several human rights, including the rights to life, water, food, and health. Under human rights law, States have an obligation to prevent the foreseeable adverse effects of climate change and protect those most affected by climate impacts.

Healthy mountain ecosystems help mitigate the impacts of climate change. Mountain forests and grasslands cool local temperatures, increase water retention, store carbon from the atmosphere, and reduce the risks of erosion and landslides. But mountains are under threat from climate change. Rising temperatures also mean that mountain glaciers are melting at unprecedented rates, affecting freshwater supplies downstream for millions of people.