Climate change calls for joint actions

Storms are rising, ice is melting, fires are raging through forests, and tides could submerge entire island nations and coastal cities ... Climate change is not only reversing significant development gains but also exacerbating conflict, displacement and social tensions, hampering economic growth, and shaping increasingly harsh inequalities.

"The world has never seen a threat to human rights of this scope."

This is how Michelle Bachelet, United Nations high commissioner for human rights, described the "catastrophic" impact of climate change at the opening of the UN Human Rights Council's 42nd regular session on Monday.