Abstract
Existing literature has closely examined the role that human rights should play in addressing the climate crisis. Since climate vulnerability is being increasingly understood beyond bio-physical risk, there is a normative consensus that climate adaptation policy and action must account for structural inequalities and inequities. Marginalized groups such as women, children, the elderly, Indigenous peoples, the poor, racialized communities, people with disabilities, lower caste groups, and the unhoused face unique barriers to access the benefits of climate adaptation. However, it is rare for adaptation policies to address such inequities. The urgency and scale of climate crises in India, and local advocacy on climate justice offer an important opportunity for academic contribution. Through a mixed methods approach, this study aims to investigate whether, how and under what conditions governments at the national, state, and municipal level recognize and protect human rights in their climate adaptation policies. Our research design involves legal analysis of the human rights regime in India, systematic qualitative content analysis, and statistical analysis on data collected from policy instruments. We present and assess various hypotheses relating to the contextual factors that make it more or less likely that state and municipal governments will consider and integrate human rights in their adaptation policies. After a discussion of results, we conclude with a discussion on the interaction between human rights and climate adaptation policy-making in a multi-level governance system in India.
