Free Online Course on Climate Change and Human Rights by UNITAR [Self-Paced; 3.5 Hrs]: Register Now!

The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) is a dedicated training arm of the United Nations system. UNITAR provides training and capacity development activities to assist mainly developing countries with special attention to Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and other groups and communities who are most vulnerable, including those in conflict situations.

About UN CC:e-Learn

The One UN Climate Change Learning Partnership (UN CC:Learn) is a joint initiative of more than 30 multilateral organizations helping countries to achieve climate change action both through general climate literacy and applied skills development. UN CC:Learn provides strategic advice and quality learning resources to help people, governments and businesses to understand, adapt, and build resilience to climate change. UN CC:Learn is supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).

About the Course on Climate Change and Human Rights

From hurricanes affecting communities in the Caribbean, to sea-level rise threatening lives and livelihoods across the Pacific, heat waves and droughts across Europe, and people displaced in the context of extreme weather events, floods and droughts, the effects of climate change are already impacting human rights, including, the rights to food, water and sanitation, decent shelter, health, personal security, and even life itself. Climate change disproportionately affects the world’s most disadvantaged people – those who are the poorest, most exposed and have the least resources to withstand climate shocks and stresses such as extreme weather events. Climate action that is not anchored in a human rights-based approach risks further violating human rights.

This course addresses how human rights obligations require the international community to take more ambitious action to mitigate emissions, to support adaptation that benefits persons, groups and peoples in vulnerable situations, and to address loss and damage associated with the impacts of climate change. It demonstrates the importance of rights-based, participatory climate action, which leads to more coherent, sustainable and effective outcomes. Increased awareness and education on human rights and climate change have been identified as key variables to enhance and support effective, rights-based climate action. 

General Details

• Self-paced course
• Duration: 3.5 hours
• Language: English

Who is it for?

Everyone with an interest in learning more about climate change and human rights; including policy-makers, students, experts, activists and academics.

The course will provide you with tools to better understand, discuss, participate, and act on climate change as well as human rights challenges and opportunities. 

Course Modules

This course consists of 7 (seven) modules packaged in one interactive material

• Module 1: Human rights impacts of climate change and corresponding human rights obligations
• Module 2: Human rights in climate negotiations, agreements and action
• Module 3: Climate change in human rights processes, agreements and action
• Module 4: Persons, groups and peoples in vulnerable situations
• Module 5: Regional and national frameworks and action
• Module 6: Rights-based climate litigation
• Module 7: Right to development and climate change in focus

Completion and Certificate

• This course is certified providing a certificate of completion to those who complete the course and pass the final assessment.
• The final assessment consists of a quiz available at the end of the course which allows you to test your knowledge against the learning objectives of the course.
• Once you complete the interactive material and pass the quiz with at least 70%, you will receive a certificate of completion. You have a maximum of three attempts to pass the quiz. Please, access your certificate under the tap “Certification” on the main course page.
• While each of the seven modules is followed by a short quiz (within the interactive lesson), these are not counted against the final grade. They are part of the learning process and aim to prepare you for the final quiz.

How to Enrol?

• Click on the link at the end of this post.
• To enrol for the course, interested participants must log in/create an account with UN CC:Learn.
• On the landing page, click on ‘Login to enrol’ for signing in/signing up to your account with U N CC:Learn.
• Login to your account.
• After logging in, you will come back to the course page. Click on ‘Enrol Me’ and start learning.

Click here to enrol for the course.