Human Rights in the New Eco-Social Contract

DRAFT CONFERENCE PAPER

Human Rights in the New

Eco-Social Contract

Exploring a Just Transition through

Public Services and Social Security

Sylvain Aubry, Matt McConnell, Sarah Saadoun, Lena Simet

August 2023

Draft paper prepared in response to a call for papers

for the UNRISD Global Policy Seminar for a New Eco-Social Contract

Bonn, Germany, 29–30 August 2023

The United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) is an autonomous research institute

within the UN system that undertakes multidisciplinary research and policy analysis on the social dimensions

of contemporary development issues. Through our work we aim to ensure that social equity, inclusion and

justice are central to development thinking, policy and practice.

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Tel: +41 (0)22 9173060

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This is not a formal UNRISD publication. The responsibility for opinions expressed in signed studies rests solely

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permitted without the prior authorization of the author(s), except for personal use.

Human Rights in the New Eco-Social Contract: Exploring a Just Transition through Public Services and Social Security

Abstract

To address the current multiple crises, that are sometimes referred to as “a break down” of current

social contracts, civil society, academics and international institutions have been proposing a range

of ideas for societal transformation, from “human rights economy” to “just transition”. Among

those, the idea of a new eco-social contract has gained particular traction and could help bring

together a number of the proposals for change. However, the content of such new eco-social

contracts needs to be fleshed out. This paper proposes an initial exploration of whether, and if so

how, human rights can help provide guidance to the understanding of new eco-social contracts.

To do so, this paper focuses on one of the three pillars identified by UNRISD to build new eco-

social contracts, transformative social policies. It reviews the main human rights content and

obligations that apply to two of the policy areas under this pillar (universal quality public services

and the right to universal social security) and how those are articulated in the particular moment of

change of social contracts that constitutes the necessary phasing out of consumer fossil fuel

subsidies.

On this basis, the paper makes four preliminary reflections on the relationship between human

rights and new eco-social contracts. Firstly, if the ambition of human rights is to shape new eco-

social contracts, the human rights community should take it into account in its approach to interpret

and develop rights. Secondly, the human rights framework, if used and interpreted adequately, and

in particular taking into account the analysis from other fields, has the potential to guide social

contracts to avoid reproducing or creating new unequal power dynamics and abuses. Thirdly, human

rights could provide a framework from which to build the consensus that new eco-social contracts

require, which can be particularly challenging when it requires a redistribution of resources.

Fourthly, human rights could play a role in assessing these contracts and provide a well-established

framework against which to identify eco-social contracts that advance social justice and distinguish

them from social contracts that do not meet this normative objective.

Draft conference paper

Contents

1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 1

2. Human Rights Standards Guiding Universal Quality Public Services Essential for a New Eco-

Social Contract ............................................................................................................................................. 3

2.1 Human rights standards guiding the understanding of public services ................................... 4

2.2 Ensuring universal quality public services requires imposing “public service obligations” on

private entities ......................................................................................................................................... 6

3. The Right to Universal Social Security as a Key Element of a New Eco-Social Contract ................. 8

3.1 Human rights standards guiding the understanding of social security .................................... 8

3.2 The failure of poverty targeted social security ........................................................................ 10

3.3 Developing and financing universal social security systems aligned with human rights ..... 13

4. Putting the Eco into the Social Contract: The Example of Phasing out Fossil Fuel Subsidies ..... 14

5. Conclusions ....................................................................................................................................... 17

References ................................................................................................................................................ 19

Appendix(es) .............................................................................................................................................. 26

Acronyms

AAAQ

Availability, Accessibility, Acceptability, and Quality

ACHPR

African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights

CESCR

UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

CEDAW

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

CRC

Convention on the Rights of the Child

CRPD

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

HRC

UN Human Rights Council

ICESCR

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

IHRL

International Human Rights Law

ILO

International Labour Organization

IMF

International Monetary Fund

NGO

Nongovernmental Organization

OHCHR

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

SDG

Sustainable Development Goal

UNICEF

United Nations Children’s Fund

UNRISD

United Nations Research Institute for Social Development

Human Rights in the New Eco-Social Contract: Exploring a Just Transition through Public Services and Social Security

iii

Acknowledgements

Thank you to our Human Rights Watch colleagues for providing review and editorial assistance,

including Arvind Ganesan, Katharina Rall, Skye Wheeler, Kartik Raj, Alison Leal Parker, Elizabeth

Kamundia, and Jack Spehn.

Human Rights in the New Eco-Social Contract: Exploring a Just Transition through Public Services and Social Security

1. Introduction

The current economic and social systems that have emerged under globalization, based on the

prioritization of wealth generation without adequate regard for distribution and the environment,

have failed to deliver on the promise of a fairer world where everyone can enjoy their rights equally.

Doing so requires systemic change, or said otherwise, a change of social contracts.

UNRISD defines social contracts as “the explicit and implicit agreements between state and citizens

defining rights and obligations to ensure legitimacy, security, rule of law and social justice”

(UNRISD 2022:223). However, and critically, the fact that there is a form of social contract does not

mean that it is just. The contract only works for those who are part to it – and many groups, in

particular minorities and traditionally marginalized groups, have historically been left out of

contracts. In addition, what is considered as “just” may change over time: social contracts are always

in negotiation and renegotiation, as perceptions and values and the acceptance of the legitimate

parameters of state-society relations evolve.

In practice, arguably virtually all current social contracts are unfair and unsustainable, at least from

the perspectives of marginalized populations and those living with ecological disaster or in degraded

environments. As highlighted in particular by feminist and critical scholars, current social contracts

“reflect existing power structures and inequalities at multiple levels and in varied forms, often

creating de facto contracts of domination” (Mills 2007; Pateman 1988, cited in UNRISD2022:224).

Existing contracts are often racialized, colonialist, ableist and patriarchal, fail to take into account

nature and environmental issues, and involve problems of elite capture, corruption and lack of

accountability, undermining political institutions (UNRISD 2022).

In recent years, policy analysts and political leaders have increasingly talked of “broken” social

contacts (UN 2021, UNRISD 2022:219). This idea of “broken social contracts” does not imply that

previous social contracts were just but indicates a particular moment in history where multiple crises

intersect, with such an intensity that it could constitute a turning point. Exploding inequalities, and,

above all, the ecological breakdown, require changes of a potentially unprecedented scale and

rapidity, with particularly high stakes for the future of human rights. It also reflects the end, under

the pressure of these crises, of the previous imperfect, but relatively stable contracts based on an

“implicit bargain between economic imperatives of growth and productivity, and social imperatives

of redistribution and social protection” (UNRISD 2022:219).

In response to this situation, civil society, academics and international institutions have been

proposing a range of ideas for societal transformation in the last decades, with an acceleration during

the Covid-19 pandemic. For instance, in the human rights field, the United Nations Office of the

High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) established in 2019 the Surge Initiative “to

respond to galloping inequalities, the slow-paced implementation of the Sustainable Development

Goals (SDGs) and growing social unrest,” which led the Office to the concept of a “human rights

economy” (OHCHR 2019; Türk 2023). Similarly, feminist scholars and activists, among others, have

long developed the concept of “care economy,” while parts of the labour and environmental

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movements have been calling for a “just transition” to a low-carbon economy that is not only

sustainable but also equitable and fair (Razavi 2007; Morena et al. 2020).

One approach that has gained particular traction to address the scale of the change, and could help

synthesise a range of approaches, is the call for new social contracts. It is increasingly being

discussed in international fora and received renewed attention after the UN Secretary-General made

the call for a new social contract one of the pillars of his 2021 Our Common Agenda report (UN 2021).

Accordingly, for social contracts to address current challenges, they should not reproduce old

formats, but build new ones.

Taking into the account the critiques that social contracts can exist while being highly unequal and

environmentally unsustainable, the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development

(UNRISD) took it a step further and proposed a more specific concept, calling for new “eco[logical]-

social contracts”. This concept was elaborated in its 2022 flagship report and aligns with the call to

fix our broken social contracts as articulated by a range of actors (UNRISD 2022:223; Kempf and

Hujo 2022).

New “eco-social contracts” make a normative proposal to reconfigure a range of relationships that

have become sharply imbalanced, “those between state and citizens, between capital and labour,

between the global North and the global South, between humans and the natural environment,” and

demand to review the faults of previous social contracts.They lead to “rebalancing hegemonic

gender roles and relations rooted in patriarchy, remedying historical injustices and strengthening

solidarity and multilateralism” (UNRISD 2022).

It is a particularly attractive approach for its capacity to include and bring together in a coherent

framework a range of approaches to systemic change; offer normative guidance while being flexible

to different contexts; and propose a positive vision while taking into account previous criticisms of

social contracts. The question raised by UNRISD is then as follows: “how can social contracts be

improved, strengthened and renegotiated in a fairer and more inclusive way, allowing groups facing

social exclusion and obstacles to participate in shaping present contracts while also respecting the

interests of future generations” (UNRISD 2022:19)?

Human rights are often mentioned as having the potential to provide guidance for such new eco-

social contracts. Our Common Agenda talks of “a renewed social contract anchored in human rights”

(UN 2021), while UNRISD positions “human rights for all” as one of the seven “principles for

building a new eco-social contract” (UNRISD 2022:246). This paper proposes, based on the

experience of the authors’ work at Human Rights Watch, an initial exploration of whether and how

human rights, with a focus on economic, social and cultural rights, can in practice provide guidance

to advance a positive vision of social contracts.

Human Rights in the New Eco-Social Contract: Exploring a Just Transition through Public Services and Social Security

Figure 1. The Eco-social Contract: principles and policies (Source: UNRISD 2022)

To do so, this paper focuses on one of the three pillars identified by UNRISD to build new eco-

social contracts: transformative social policies (figure 1). This pillar includes several policy areas:

rights-aligned social protection, universal social services, inclusive labour market policies, just care

systems and fair fiscal contracts. Section 2 addresses the second area, exploring how human rights

can guide an understanding of public services, while section 3 discusses how the right to social

security provides a basis to understand social protection. Section 4 of this paper then discusses the

opportunities offered by the necessary phasing out of consumer fossil fuel subsidies to implement

the transformations in the two previous areas, and the conclusion offers reflection on the potential

use of human rights in shaping eco-social contracts.

2. Human Rights Standards Guiding Universal Quality Public

Services Essential for a New Eco-Social Contract

Universal quality public services are a cornerstone of a new eco-social contract. Human rights norms

and standards provide a framework guiding states’ realization of universal quality public services

necessary for a new eco-social contract.

UNRISD, p. 21.

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2.1 Human rights standards guiding the understanding of public services

There is no universal definition of what constitutes a public service and as set in the Global Manifesto

for Public Services, a landmark civil society text adopted in 2022, they are “a historic and social

construct.” As they are “not just technically but also socially and politically defined, the scope of

public services may vary and change in different times and places and in different societies” (Global

Manifesto for Public Services 2022). However, at least certain services are core to any definition as

they correspond to various human rights recognized in numerous international instruments, notably

the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), the Convention on

the Rights of the Child (CRC), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination

against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)

(UN General Assembly 1966; 1989; 1979; 2006).

These treaties cover inter alia the right to health (ICESCR, art. 12; CRC, art. 24; CEDAW, art. 12;

CRPD, art. 25), the right to education (ICESCR, arts. 13, 14; CRC, art. 28; CEDAW, art. 10; CRPD,

art. 24), the right to care and support services (CRPD, art. 28(2)(c); art. 19(b)), and the rights to

housing, food, water and sanitation that form part of the right to an adequate standard of living

(ICESCR, art. 11; CRC, art. 27; CEDAW, art. 14; CRPD, art. 28).

The rights to electricity, transportation and internet are also increasingly discussed as potentially

forming part of the right to an adequate standard of living. While this paper focuses on economic,

social and cultural rights, there are also public services, such as a fair election administration, that are

very much connected to civil and political rights.

The bodies created by these treaties to oversee their implementation have issued general comments

and recommendations that unpack states’ obligations with regard to these rights and delineate their

normative content.

Although these general comments and recommendations are not legally

binding, they are authoritative and generally accepted interpretations of these treaty obligations. In

addition, a large body of court cases, guidelines and scholarly research has considerably enriched the

understanding of these rights.

From this rich practice, it has emerged that these near-universally ratified treaties impose a range of

specific legal obligations, including the obligation to respect, protect and fulfil each of the rights

delineated in these treaties for all individuals within their jurisdiction. In sum, states’ duty to respect

requires non-interference with individual’s enjoyment of rights, the duty to protect involves

preventing interference with rights by third parties, and the duty to fulfil requires positive steps to

realize these rights (Maastricht 1997).

See Perludem, "Guiding Framework on Inclusive Election Observation," July 2022, https://perludem.org/wp-

content/uploads/2022/08/Election-Observation.pdf at pp. 4-7 (discussing fair election administration through an analysis of the

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Convention on the Rights of Persons with

Disabilities (CRPD), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the International Convention of the Rights of All

Migrant Workers (ICPRMW) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).).

See, for example, https://www.ohchr.org/en/treaty-bodies/cescr; https://www.ohchr.org/en/treaty-bodies/crc;

https://www.ohchr.org/en/treaty-bodies/cedaw; https://www.ohchr.org/en/treaty-bodies/crpd

Human Rights in the New Eco-Social Contract: Exploring a Just Transition through Public Services and Social Security

The normative content of the rights–what rights-holders have a right to–has also become

increasingly clear. Although it varies for each right, it generally includes four "interrelated and

essential" (CESCR 2000) elements: availability, accessibility, acceptability, and quality (AAAQ).

This

so-called AAAQ Framework helps determining what individuals are entitled to and, therefore, what

public services should be able to deliver on (CESCR 2000). This means that for each right, there

should be a service ensuring that they are:

• Available: existing within a given geographic area;

• Accessible: obtainable by everyone without physical, economic, discriminatory, or

information barriers;

• Acceptable: subjectively adequate and culturally appropriate for rights-holders use; and

• Quality: objectively fit for purpose, based on scientific analysis or comparison to

international quality standards.

From schools and universities to clinics, hospitals and homes, public services are required for states

to meet their obligations to respect, protect, and fulfil the availability, accessibility, acceptability, and

quality of goods and services essential to economic, social and cultural rights. High-quality public

services for all—universal quality public services—is a standard that reflects a state of government

institutions and policies that fully realize this AAAQ Framework across rights.

Accordingly, it is a

standard towards which all states seeking to meet their human rights obligations must strive, and one

which provides a blueprint for the construction of a new eco-social contract based on human rights.

But aside from meeting rights-holders’ entitlements, ensuring universal access to high-quality public

services also provides significant advantages for a new eco-social contract. It can reduce social and

economic inequalities by eliminating discriminatory and cost-based access barriers to institutions

vital for development, such as schools, health services and housing, allowing for greater social

mobility. These universally accessible social institutions can foster desegregation and greater social

cohesion, which in turn can promote democratic participation and trust in governance. This may

also stimulate economic growth, as households’ capital resources can be allocated more efficiently

once they are no longer bound to specific sectors like housing, health care and education.

Universally accessible institutions are also more resilient to shocks, as they are inherently more

capable of readily responding to crisis than cyclically funded emergency programmes, which must

spend time and resources building administrative infrastructure and identifying those who require

services. Finally, universal public institutions may offer greater macro efficiency, or economies of

scale, which can be both more carbon and cost-efficient than highly fragmented private systems.

See Table 1 below for a summary of the development of AAAQ across CESCR General Comments, etc. See also

https://humanrightseducation.dk/HRBA_Training_Package/HRBA_in_practice/AAAQ%20Toolbox%20concept%20note%20brief.pdf

CESCR divides accessibility into at least four sub-categories: physical (e.g., impediments that restrict an individual’s ability to physically

reach these goods or services, or conditions that place an individual at risk of physical harm to do so); economic (e.g., these goods or

services are priced at levels that an individual cannot pay, or cause financial costs to an individual that are detrimental to the

realization of other rights); discriminatory (e.g., de jure or de facto policies or practices of entities involved in the delivery of these

goods or services either prohibit or restrict an individual’s access because of their personal characteristics); and information (e.g.,

inadequate or improper frequency, medium, form or language used to convey information about the availability of these goods or

services, or a lack of openness or responsiveness to feedback or complaints from individuals served).

See also https://futureispublic.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Future-is-Public-Global-Manifesto-for-public-services.pdf.

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2.2 Ensuring universal quality public services requires imposing

“public service obligations” on private entities

The increasing role and impacts of private entities in traditionally public sectors, including health

care and education, have been significant factors in the fracturing of existing social contracts,

particularly since the emergence of the so-called Washington Consensus in the late-1970s and early-

1980s. Through US-backed institutions like the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, this

package of neoliberal policy reforms encouraged governments, often coercively, to dramatically

reduce spending on social programmes, deregulate industries, liberalize trade and capital controls,

and privatize public institutions and enterprises. A new eco-social contract will be constructed

among the social and economic wreckage of this Washington Consensus and must grapple with role

of the private sector in the economy and society. But human rights can provide both specific

guidance and a framework for doing just that (CESCR 2017).

In 2017, the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), which

oversees the implementation of the ICESCR, issued General Comment No. 24 on state obligations

in the context of business activities, which recognized that the “increased role and impact of private

actors in traditionally public sectors…pose new challenges for States parties in complying with their

obligations under the [ICESCR]” (CESCR 2017). For instance, recent work from Human Rights

Watch and other human rights organizations documents challenges posed by private sector

involvement in the delivery of goods and services essential to rights:

• In the United States, the lack of either a universally accessible public healthcare system

or universal health insurance leaves many patients at the whims of the private health care

market, which often charges prices that undermine access to health care, such as

for hospital services, essential medicines, and cervical cancer prevention (Human Rights

Watch 2023d; 2022e; 2022i).

• Also in the United States, decades of inadequate federal funding for public housing has

jeopardized residents’ living conditions and exacerbated the country’s housing crisis

(Human Rights Watch 2022f; 2022g; 2022h).

• In the United Kingdom, persistent policy failures by central and local governments that

have lowered the availability of social housing and increased the cost of renting force

children in London to grow up in substandard and uninhabitable “temporary

accommodation” (Human Rights Watch 2022j).

• In Lebanon, authorities’ failure to properly manage the state-run electricity company has

created an electricity crisis that has left people dependent on expensive and polluting

private generators within an unregulated market, exacerbating inequality and climate

change and undermining rights in the country (Human Rights Watch 2023b).

• In a 2023 report, Oxfam India documented how the growing private healthcare industry

in the country has failed to live up to the promise of improving health care access and

quality but has instead levied catastrophic and impoverishing out-of-pocket costs on

patients (Taneja and Sarkar 2023).

Human Rights in the New Eco-Social Contract: Exploring a Just Transition through Public Services and Social Security

• In 2023, Oxfam International reporting on World Bank financing of for-profit hospitals

in Kenya documented how patients entitled to free care from these private institutions

were instead pushed into poverty or even imprisoned for not paying their bills (Marriott

2023).

To prevent these and other rights impacts where private actors are involved in the delivery of goods

and services essential to rights, the CESCR states that private providers should “be subject to strict

regulations that impose on them so-called ‘public service obligations’” (CESCR 2017). Although the

CESCR has not to date precisely defined “public service obligations,” the text of General Comment

No. 24 indicates that this requires going beyond states’ traditional duties to protect rights-bearers

from the practices of third parties through effective regulation of their business activities.

In a 2022 General Comment, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR),

which oversees and interprets the African Charter of Human and Peoples’ Rights, articulated a

definition of “public service obligations” under the African Charter that can provide guidance for a

new eco-social contract (ACHPR 2022):

“Public service obligations refer to a set of domestic norms and regulations that ensure that

the State’s international obligation to respect, protect, promote and fulfil human rights is

upheld, even when private actors may manage, control, or otherwise participate in the day-

to-day aspects of social service provision. Public services obligations require, among others,

that when private actors decide to provide social services, they agree to forgo their private

interests for the specific purposes of such provision, and take on the public interest as their

primary objective….

Therefore, public service obligations require in particular that social services are made

available to all individuals, regardless of their geographical location, at a specified quality,

and, depending on the circumstances, at no cost to the user, or at a subsidised, reduced cost

below a market rate.”

Together, these General Comments from the CESCR and the African Commission articulate an

emerging standard grounded in international human rights law, which recognizes that states’ duties

to respect, protect, and fulfil rights may require regulations that effectively turn private entities

involved in certain sectors vital to the realization of human right into quasi-public providers.

A new eco-social contract that ensures human rights for all amid a transformation of economies and

societies should reflect this recognition by imposing “public service obligations” onto private actors

involved in vital sectors like health care, education, housing, water, care and support services and

others. A European Parliament report defined public service obligations as “the specific quality and

price requirements that are imposed by public authorities on the service provider in order to ensure

that certain public interest objectives are met” (Gløersen et al. 2016:21). In the provision of water or

In addition to not pursuing policies that negatively affect rights, General Comment No. 24 argues that states’ duty to respect also

extends to not prioritizing “the interest of business entities over [ICESCR] rights without adequate justification.” Read liberally, this can

be seen to prohibit elite capture, etc.

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electricity, this may for instance involve requiring universal coverage and continuity of service,

pricing policies, quality requirements, and user participation. In health care, this may include

prohibiting private providers from denying access to adequate services, treatments or information

(CESCR 2017), including based on costs.

Universal quality public services are an essential cornerstone of a new eco-social contract. Human

rights norms and standards that provide a normative framework guiding states’ realization of

universal quality public services can thus constitute a blueprint for constructing this necessary

component of a new eco-social contract.

3. The Right to Universal Social Security as a Key Element

of a New Eco-Social Contract

Well-designed and effectively implemented social security systems constitute another key element of

a new eco-social contract (Development Pathways and Human Rights Watch 2023; UNRISD 2022).

Social security is premised on people enjoying their rights at all stages of life (ILO n.d.). It

encompasses a web of government programmes that provide support in various situations that may

affect a person’s ability to earn an adequate income, such as sickness, disability, old age,

unemployment and childrearing.

Social security plays a vital role in strengthening the relationship between people and the state,

fostering solidarity and social inclusion. It can also help reduce disparities between groups including

based on gender, race, sexuality, nationality, and class, also known as horizontal inequalities.

However, the link between social security and horizontal inequalities necessitates both legal

protection for programmes and the inclusion of marginalized groups in programme design and

monitoring. In South Africa, UNRISD found that social grants disproportionately benefit

disadvantaged groups, as grants have successfully mitigated cultural, social and economic barriers

faced by excluded groups that might otherwise have hindered their access and take up of benefits

(Plagerson 2018). Nonetheless, political narratives that label benefits as handouts and emphasize

caution against dependency can undermine the inequality-reducing impact of social security.

When aligned with human rights, universal coverage and access to adequate social security becomes

a powerful instrument for governments to eradicate poverty and reduce economic inequality,

promote political stability, foster trust and solidarity and cultivate inclusive and green economies.

3.1 Human rights standards guiding the understanding of social security

The right to social security is embodied in Article 22 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,

adopted in 1948, which spells out the essential elements of the right: “Everyone, as a member of

society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and

international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of

the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his

personality” (UN General Assembly 1948).

Human Rights in the New Eco-Social Contract: Exploring a Just Transition through Public Services and Social Security

Since then, the right to social security has been widely recognized and incorporated into countries’

national constitutions (ILO 2016) and reinforced through a range of other international conventions

and frameworks, including the International Covenant for Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights

(ICESCR), as well as other global and regional treaties.

The relevant UN human rights bodies as

well as the ILO have provided valuable clarification work on the content of the right. In its General

Comment No. 19, the CESCR stated that social security systems should include coverage for

everyone without discrimination for at least nine areas: healthcare, sickness, older age,

unemployment, employment injuries and occupational diseases, family and child support, maternity,

benefits for persons with disabilities, and benefits for survivors and orphans (CESCR 2008).

This

follows a similar scope as the ILO Convention No. 102, that was ratified by 65 countries (ILO

1952).

In 2012, 185 states adopted the Social Protection Floor Recommendation No. 202 at the

International Labour Conference, further unpacking the content of the right to social security (ILO

2012). One of the motivations behind the initiative was to bridge the gap in social security coverage

between formal and informal workers, as previous standard setting efforts primarily focused on

formal employment. The recommendation proposes that ILO member states establish a social

protection floor that guarantees access to basic health care and income support for “at least all

residents and children.” In addition, states are urged to continuously raise this basis protection to

meet existing ILO standards. The adequacy of benefits should be regularly assessed through a

transparent legal process. The Recommendation requires to cover at least four social security

guarantees:

1. access to a nationally defined set of goods and services constituting essential health care,

including maternity care, that meets the criteria of availability, accessibility, acceptability, and

quality;

2. basic income security for children, at least at a nationally defined minimum level, providing

access to nutrition, education, care and any other necessary goods and services;

3. basic income security during people’s working life, at least at a nationally defined minimum

level, for people who are unable to earn sufficient income, in particular in cases of sickness,

unemployment, maternity, and disability; and

4. basic income security, at least at a nationally defined minimum level, for older people.

Moreover, the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has given considerable

political support to social security as 194 countries committed to implementing nationally

appropriate social protection systems for all (universal), with the aim of reducing and preventing

poverty (UN General Assembly 2015). And in 2023, the Human Rights Council (HRC) adopted a

resolution (A/HRC/52/L.11) on the question of the realization of economic, social and cultural

The Charter of the Organization of American States (art. 45h). the ILO Convention Concerning Minimum Standards of Social Security

(No. 102), the European Social Charter (arts. 12, 23), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR, art.

9), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (art. 11e), the Convention on the Rights of the

Child (art. 26), the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (art.

27.1), the Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights in the Area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (arts.

9.1, 9.2), the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (art. 28), and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and

Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Citizens to Social Protection and Social Security (art. 3).

Draft conference paper

rights, stressing “the importance of a universal, comprehensive, and inclusive social protection

system, based on full respect for human rights and that leaves no one behind” (HRC 2023).

Governments can provide social security through a combination of contribution-based programmes

(e.g., public social insurance) as well as tax-financed programmes (e.g., social assistance, public works

programs), and other schemes designed to ensure basic income security (ILO 2021). They must fund

these programmes to “the maximum of their available resources.” Under international human rights

law, they must also acknowledge the right to social security within their national political and legal

frameworks, preferably through statutory provisions. They must also develop a comprehensive

social protection strategy accompanied by a plan of action. Additionally, they are expected to

establish adequate programmes and provide the population with information about these

programmes (CESCR 2007).

Another important point to emphasize is that the human rights framework makes it clear that social

security is not exclusively for people living in poverty. This stands in contrast to the trajectory of the

social protection discourse, which has often been aligned with poverty reduction strategies

advocated by development actors since the 1980s. Universal coverage is key not only because

anyone can experience job loss, have children, or grow older, but also because it arguably recognizes

the presence of universal risks that affect individuals throughout their lives, emphasizing the

potential times of income insecurity that most people may encounter.

3.2 The failure of poverty targeted social security

One fundamental building block of a strong social contract is trust and solidarity, both in the

government and among the people. Universal social security can help build that trust by

demonstrating that the government cares for its people and helps them weather challenging

economic times. Consequently, people are more inclined to pay taxes, leading to higher government

revenues. These additional funds in turn can be reinvested in quality public services and further

strengthen social protection systems, reinforcing the eco-social contract.

Despite the growing recognition of the pivotal role that universal social security plays in building

rights-aligned societies and economies, many countries still have weak and underfunded systems.

Currently, the prevailing model relies heavily on providing public pensions and contributory benefits

to formal sector workers, who tend to be better off, and social assistance to those in extreme

poverty. This leaves a significant “missing middle” without adequate coverage or protection

(Nguyen and Behrendt 2021; Joubert 2021).

This fragmented model also helps to explain why over four billion people, nearly half of the world’s

population, lack access to any form of social security (ILO 2021). Only one in four children have

social security coverage, and merely 18.6 percent of unemployed people are eligible for

unemployment benefits (ILO 2021). Informal workers, who face higher poverty risks compared to

formal sector workers, are particularly excluded from social security systems. By way of illustration,

although Kazakhstan, Kenya, Nigeria, Spain, the United States and other countries where Human

Rights Watch conducted research expanded social security early during the Covid-19 pandemic, the

Human Rights in the New Eco-Social Contract: Exploring a Just Transition through Public Services and Social Security

majority of informal workers remained unprotected (Human Rights Watch 2022a; Alfers et al 2020).

This has created a major gap in social security considering that globally more than 6 out of 10

workers are in the informal economy, according to the ILO (ILO 2018).

Figure 2. Social Protection Coverage (Source: ILO 2023).

Draft conference paper

The lack of coverage is also mostly concentrated in low- and middle-income countries, which face

significant financing gaps between their current investments and the resources needed to ensure at

least a basic level of social security. Coverage is lowest in Africa, where only 17.4 percent of the

population is covered by at least one form of benefit (ILO 2021). Though coverage is higher in

Europe and North America, a body of research, including by Human Rights Watch, documents the

failure of many wealthier nations to realize the rights to social security and to an adequate standard

of living, including the United States, United Kingdom, and Spain (Human Rights Watch 2021a;

2022b; 2022c).

In a recent guiding document on universal social protection, the World Bank suggests that the initial

step of moving towards universality implies “prioritizing the poorest” (World Bank Group 2022a).

However, the transformation of poverty targeted programmes into universal schemes is rarely

achieved (Kidd 2015). The poverty targeting approach instead perpetuates the existing gaps in social

protection coverage and is inconsistent with human rights standards that call for a universal

provision of social security. Research by UNICEF, UNRISD, the Overseas Development Institute,

the ILO, Development Pathways and other organizations has also consistently shown that such an

approach not only fails to respond to the diverse risks individuals encounter throughout their lives

but can also exacerbate societal divisions based on factors such as class, ethnicity, citizenship, and

gender, ultimately undermining the very essence of social contracts (Kidd et al 2017; Mkandawire

2005).

A range of organizations, including ILO, UNICEF, UNRISD, non-governmental organizations and

academics have also criticized targeting programmes for their exclusion errors, high administrative

costs and cumbersome and punitive behavioural conditionalities (Mkandawire 2005; UNICEF

2023). A decade of feminist research has highlighted the detrimental effects on gender equality of

conditionalities for access to social security benefits, particularly in contexts where there is a lack of

quality public services and where multiple forms of discrimination intersect (Cookson 2019).

These flaws in targeted systems have real-world consequences. For instance, in Lebanon, eligibility

for the National Poverty Targeting Programme , the primary social assistance programme, is contingent

on living in extreme poverty (Ministry of Social Affairs 2023). However, despite more than 80

percent of the population experiencing multidimensional poverty according to the United Nations,

less than 5 percent of the population receives benefits through this programme, turning the

distribution of benefits into a lottery-like process (UNESCWA 2021; Human Rights Watch 2022d).

Furthermore, targeted systems have been found to contribute to social stigma (Sepúlveda and Nyst

2012), which in turn creates disincentives for individuals to seek benefits they are entitled to. A

review of causes leading to the “non-take-up”

of benefits by UN Special Rapporteur on extreme

poverty and human rights identified shame and stigma as major barriers to accessing benefits,

especially when conditionalities are attached to the provision of social protection (HRC 2022). In

Nepal, a woman living on the outskirts of Kathmandu shared that during a visit from government

The term “non-take-up” of benefits refers to a phenomenon in which individuals are eligible for benefits, yet they either cannot or

choose not to claim them.

Human Rights in the New Eco-Social Contract: Exploring a Just Transition through Public Services and Social Security

surveyors to assess their livelihood and eligibility for social security, her son asked, “Why does

everyone need to know that I’m poor?” (Human Rights Watch 2023a).

3.3 Developing and financing universal social security systems aligned with

human rights

In contrast, universal programmes, such as universal child benefits or pensions, in addition to

providing much needed support across the life course, can create a positive impression of

government and, over time, strengthen the social contract between the state and its population.

Universal programmes also have better outcomes in reducing poverty and inequality. By extension,

they offer a better opportunity for more people to realize their rights.

Universal child benefits, for example, could reach many households globally. In Africa and Asia,

where social security coverage is particularly patchy, more than 80 percent of households include at

least one child under the age of 18 (UN DESA 2017).

Universal social security systems that combine social assistance with contributory social insurance,

including for informal workers are also better equipped to respond to new forms of employment

and the increasing role of technology in shaping labour markets. Workers in the app-based gig

economy, for example, tend to have less social protection coverage compared to other workers. This

is largely because in many countries platform companies classify app workers as self-employed,

which often implies no or less favourable access to social security systems (often only eligible to

voluntary coverage), higher contribution rates and smaller benefit packages (exclusion from certain

contingencies such as unemployment or employment injury).

Evolving to universal social protection requires transitioning from social security models that are

exclusionary and create resentment toward programmes designed from a rights-aligned approach

that include everyone. Such a universal approach strengthens the social contract and enhances

willingness to contribute through taxes, resulting in higher government revenues and the

sustainability of universal programmes.

Universal social security is financially feasible even in low-income countries. A recent report by

Development Pathways, Action Against Hunger, and the Church of Sweden (2023) found that

comprehensive, tax-financed, universal life course systems require an investment of about 1.5 to 3

percent of GDP (Kidd et al 2023).

While investment needs may be higher in low-income countries with only little coverage, universal

systems can start small and increase over time. For instance, a universal child benefit could be

introduced initially for every child aged 0 to 4. Over time, it can gradually expand to all children

under the age of 18. A UNICEF (2021) study estimates that in Nepal, extending the child grant to all

children by 2035 would amount to less than 0.7 percent of GDP. The expansion of these systems

could be financed through various means, such as allocating a small proportion of the additional

taxes derived from economic growth or implementing solidarity or wealth taxes.

Draft conference paper

4. Putting the Eco into the Social Contract:

The Example of Phasing out Fossil Fuel Subsidies

In an era of mounting government debt, support for the key elements of a rights-aligned social

contract described above is often dampened by a belief that governments simply lack the resources

to fund them. At the same time, to cope with debt, many governments are imposing austerity and

other measures that further erode people’s ability to access their rights (Ortiz and Cummins 2021).

Among these measures, the phasing out of subsidies for fuel and electricity offers a valuable

opportunity to generate enormous savings that can be put toward funding a new eco-social contract,

while facilitating the energy transition away from fossil fuels.

In many countries, consumer subsidies for fuel and electricity have played an important role in

maintaining fragile social contracts, particularly in contexts where governments have otherwise done

little to deliver on rights despite an exponential growth in resources in recent decades (McCulloch et

al 2022). These subsidies utilize public resources to make fuel and electricity available at a below

market price, often at a fixed rate. Particularly in Global North countries, below market rates can

encourage more fossil fuel use that would otherwise occur, even as they may lower the cost of

energy and basic foodstuff, particularly in Global South countries. Subsidies have played a

particularly important role in social contracts in the Middle East and North Africa, which made up

half of global spending on consumer subsidies in 2014 and has historically invested very little in

social protection (Hamaizia and Moerenhout 2022).

The economic and environmental necessity of

transitioning away from these subsidies offers the possibility of repurposing existing resources to

fund new eco-social contracts that maximize public resources toward equitable and sustainable

economies.

Fossil fuel subsidies are expensive and strain government budgets at a time when many face

mounting debt and are already confronting the impacts of the climate crisis driven by fossil fuels. In

2022, governments spent 1 trillion USD on fossil fuel consumer subsidies, according to the

International Energy Agency, double the previous year due to higher prices triggered by Russia’s

full-scale invasion of Ukraine (IEA 2023). The burden on governments is enormous: in Lebanon,

transfers to the national electricity company to subsidize the cost for consumers comprise a

staggering 40 percent of the country’s debt, contributing to its severe economic crisis (McDowall

2019).

In 2019, all but 5.5 percent of electricity in Lebanon was generated using fossil fuels (IEA

n.d.). Moreover, the wealthy capture the majority of public spending on fossil fuel subsidies in

absolute terms because they consume more (IMF 2015).

Worse still, these subsidies pour public resources into an industry that threatens public health and

the environment, delaying the transition to renewable energy. In doing so, they incentivize the use of

See also https://www.idos-research.de/discussion-paper/article/subsidy-reforms-in-the-middle-east-and-north-africa-strategic-options-

and-their-consequences-for-the-social-contract/; https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/dp/2014/1403mcdsum.pdf;

https://journals.openedition.org/poldev/2267

See also https://www.hrw.org/report/2023/03/09/cut-life-itself/lebanons-failure-right-electricity

See eg https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2015/wp15250.pdf, https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/november-

2021/undp-more-spent-fossil-fuel-subsidies-fighting-poverty.

Human Rights in the New Eco-Social Contract: Exploring a Just Transition through Public Services and Social Security

fuels that contribute to climate change, which also exacerbates inequality and disproportionately

harms both individuals and countries that already have very limited resources to respond to the

effects of climate change. These effects include more extreme weather, threats to water sources and

crops, and higher food prices.

In June 2023, the World Bank published a report titled Detox Development: Repurposing Environmentally

Harmful Subsidies that urged governments to shift spending from subsidies, including for fossil fuels,

to transition energy systems. According to the report, “Annually, countries spend six times more on

subsidizing fossil fuel consumption than their commitments made under the Paris Agreement to

tackle climate change. Redirecting these subsidies can unlock significant funds for sustainable

purposes” (Damania et al 2023).

For these and other reasons, many governments are in the process of removing or reducing these

subsidies or have already done so. An analysis conducted by Human Rights Watch of International

Monetary Fund loan programmes to 37 countries approved between March 2020 and March 2023

found that 16 included conditions or advice to remove or reduce fuel or electricity subsidies. Some

countries that received loans without such conditions, such as Egypt, had already removed these

subsidies under previous IMF arrangements.

At the same time, the IMF and governments acknowledge that removing subsidies without replacing

them with a more effective system of social support disproportionately impacts people with low

incomes who pay a higher share of their income to cope with price increases.

IMF research found

that the direct and indirect impact of a 0.25 USD per liter increase in fuel prices results in an average

5.5 percent decline in household real incomes (Coady et al 2015). A study published by Friedrich

Ebert Stiftung in June 2023, found that following the removal of fuel and electricity subsidies in

Egypt, “household energy expenditure contributed to about 40 per cent of the increase in the cost

of living between December 2015 and August 2019. For extremely poor households, the increase in

energy expenditure constituted about 35.7 per cent of their 2015 incomes, whereas for the top

income group it constituted about 21.5 per cent” (FES 2023). Similarly, a survey conducted by

Human Rights Watch in Lebanon found that following the removal of fuel subsidies, the lowest 20

percent of income earners spent 88 percent of their income on electricity provided by diesel fueled

generators (Human Rights Watch 2023b).

While the IMF and World Bank, which frequently work together to guide government efforts at

subsidy reform, acknowledge these impacts, they offer a cramped vision of what should take their

place and squander the opportunity to address soaring inequality and environmental devastation.

See, for example, study following an increase of electricity tariffs by 50 percent in Turkey “found the welfare loss of the poorest income

quintile - measured by the change in consumer surplus as a percentage of income - is 2.9 times that of the wealthiest.” Fan Zhang,

“Energy Price Reform and Household Welfare: The Case of Turkey,” The Energy Journal, doi:10.5547/01956574.36.2.4. A study

considering the indirect and direct impacts of reforming energy subsidies to investigate their effects on the welfare of households in

developing economies found that removing 0.25 cent/l from the subsidy on fuel caused the income of all groups to reduce by 5

percent. Del Granado et al., 2012. In yet another study, findings revealed that the wealthiest 50 percent of households benefitted

from approximately 90 percent of the electricity subsidies. Furthermore, the outcomes of the simulation indicated that if the price of

electricity was increased by 75 percent, the impact on the poorest households was three-fold greater than on those who were the

wealthiest (Maboshe et al., 2019) In Nigeria, a study showed that if compensation mechanisms are not place, subsidies can lead to a

3–4 percent increase in poverty in the country (Rentschler, 2016).

Draft conference paper

Both largely focus only on “mitigating” the impact of price increases on “the poor and vulnerable.”

The IMF’s stated position on removing fossil fuel subsidies is to “protect the poor through targeted

cash or near-cash transfers” (IMF webpage). Unlike the IMF, the World Bank has committed to

promote universal social protection. However, in practice, it frequently finances the poverty-targeted

cash transfer programmes that work in tandem with IMF programmes to “mitigate” the impacts of

subsidy removal. Even its report on repurposing subsidies takes this narrow framing of social

protection, noting: “Social protection and compensation are an imperative in all contexts where

subsidy removal may threaten the livelihoods of vulnerable groups and increase poverty.” (Damania

et al. 2023:xix).

The examples of Egypt and Jordan offer a cautionary tale of the failure of this approach. In Egypt,

where roughly 60 million people live in or near poverty, the World Bank helped finance two cash

transfer programmes following the removal of fuel subsidies, known as Takaful and Karama. These

have recently been expanded to reach approximately 17.5 million people (5 million families), leaving

tens of millions to face sharp price increases without support. Families are ineligible for the

programme if they own a car or more than one feddan (4,200 m2) of land, have a government job or

pension, receive transfers from abroad or have a formal private sector job (Breisinger et al 2018).

According to a 2022 World Bank review, around half of families who are eligible do not receive

benefits (World Bank Group 2022b). The Friedrich Ebert Stiftung found that the “fiscal space

created by the elimination of energy subsidies was mostly used to honour Egypt’s growing interest

payments and to achieve a primary budget surplus” (FES 2023:6).

In Jordan, the government removed fuel subsidies in 2012 as part of the first in a series of IMF

programmes that are still ongoing. This generated 788 million JD (USD 1.1 billion) in savings over

the next five years, yet a government report acknowledged that funding for targeted social assistance

decreased during this time by 9 percent or JD 21 million (USD 29.6 million) (Jordan 2019). Public

spending on health, education and social protection stayed roughly the same as a percentage of the

overall budget during this period, according to a study by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, suggesting

that the savings from subsidies was not directed to health or education either (Alajlouni 2022:86). In

2019, the government established a new cash transfer programme, also called Takaful, with World

Bank financing as part of an effort to “shift social assistance resources away from inefficient

subsidies towards poverty targeted programs” (Jordan 2019:26). In 2023, the programme is expected

to reach around 120,000 households (Weldali 2023). But as a result of a sharp increase in poverty

following the pandemic, nearly one in four Jordanian households, around 580,000, were living under

the poverty line in 2022, a measure that far exceeds the targeted coverage of the cash transfer and

still doesn’t fully capture the number of people unable to realize their economic, social and cultural

rights (Weldali 2022). Moreover, non-citizens, including non-citizen children of Jordanian women

and Jordan’s large refugee population, are ineligible for the programme.

These two cases demonstrate how what should have been an opportunity for developing universal

social protection while transitioning to renewable energy and other key elements of new eco-social

contracts, aligning both environmental and social imperatives, turned into a further fracturing of the

social fabric and a large-scale undermining of rights.

Human Rights in the New Eco-Social Contract: Exploring a Just Transition through Public Services and Social Security

Poorly planned or implemented subsidy removal can lead to public backlash and even a reversal of

policies. For example, in Ecuador, Indigenous-led protests led the government to partially restore

subsidies in 2022 (Valencia 2022). But the backlash can also have tragic consequences, such as in

Angola in June 2023 when police shot and killed at least five people protesting an increase in fuel

prices due to the phasing out of subsidies (Human Rights Watch 2023c). These cases illustrate how

failing to put human rights at the centre of policymaking is self-defeating.

In contrast, an approach that had integrated human rights could have led to a reflection on how to

use the funds saved both for energy transition and to realize universal quality public services and the

right to universal social security described above. As discussed, human rights could help provide

guidance on how to do so by setting the standards that must be met and parameters to follow. There

are unfortunately few documented examples where such an approach has been taken. Iran, though

far from perfect, offers an interesting case, as it used most of the savings from phasing out fuel

subsidies between 2010 and 2016 to implement a near-universal cash transfer system and universal

health care, leading to a sharp drop in poverty and inequality, particularly in rural areas (Urban

2019).

5. Conclusions

This paper has shown two examples of how human rights can, in practice, help operationalize a

vision for a new eco-social contract. They provide a normative framework for the understanding

what should be expected from public services in a new eco-social contract to meet the standards of

“universal quality public services”: availability, accessibility, acceptability, and quality. They also help

to delineate states’ obligations to respect, protect, and fulfil the rights related to public services,

including by imposing public services obligations on any actor involved in their delivery.

Similarly, this paper has shown how human rights norms require that social security systems in new

eco-social contracts be universal. We have then explored how policy changes—such as the necessity

to phase out fossil fuel subsidies, which has become urgent given the climate crisis—could offer an

opportunity to replace harmful universal programmes with beneficial ones when building new eco-

social contracts. Guided by human rights, such policy changes would mean that, at least, everyone is

guaranteed access to universal public services and income security through universal social security

as part of a just transition from a fossil-fuel based economy to a sustainable low-carbon one that is

also equitable and fair.

As noted by UNRISD, social contracts are “based on philosophical or normative frameworks and

imaginaries” (UNRISD 2022:223). It will be no surprise that one of the important contributions of

human rights is then to provide normative guidance that can serve as a basis for new eco-social

contracts. We propose four preliminary reflections on the implications this involves, and the

relationship between human rights and new eco-social contracts.

Firstly, if the ambition of human rights is to shape new eco-social contracts, the human rights

community should take it into account in its approach. While this is not new, this demands a

reflection among people using and interpreting human right about how to approach the subject.

Draft conference paper

This may lead for instance to questioning or re-thinking the interpretation of certain norms in the

light of the demand for new social contracts, that could for instance include a reflection on the

content of “maximum available resources”; or developing new norms where they have been under-

explored—such as the rights to electricity (or to sustainable energy), transportation, internet, etc.

Secondly, the human rights framework, if used and interpreted adequately, has the potential to guide

us to avoid reproducing or creating new unequal power dynamics and abuses. To be effective at

doing so, users and interpreters of rights should take into account that it is not the only normative

framework. The norms shaping new eco-social contracts can also draw from other fields, such as

feminist economics or the care economy. As the example of the phasing out of fossil fuel subsidies

demonstrates, a human rights analysis of the removal of the subsidies helps assess the impact of the

policy change with regard to inequalities, providing a particular focus to marginalised people and

groups. And by providing norms on universal quality public services and social security, human

rights provide a basis to require that the savings gained be used to dismantle situations of oppression

and rebuild fairer contracts.

Thirdly, human rights could provide a framework from which to build legitimacy and consensus for

new contracts. Any new eco-social contract will need to be grounded in a broad consensus across a

range of stakeholders (UNRISD 2022:19)—but this is an enormous task, and a real challenge that

human rights could contribute to addressing. Consensus can be achieved through procedural means,

and in particular by guaranteeing participatory, democratic processes in the development of new

eco-social contracts. There are many human rights norms and standards on procedural aspects that

could support this. Besides, the issues discussed in this paper, such as the role of public services, the

coverage of social security and the reallocation of resources in transition are at the core of the

rebalancing of the state–market–society–nature relations that new eco-social contracts call for, but

they can be extremely contentious (UNRSID 2022:20). Established elites and interest groups will

often oppose a more redistributive system, and consensus may be difficult to achieve. It may thus be

useful to have a substantive starting point, and international human rights standards offer some

elements of how for instance public services and social security may or may not look that could help

find a consensus to rally around. OHCHR’s work on unpacking the concept of a “human rights

economy” could be an example of how this may work in practice: providing a “guardrail” for

localised discussions (Türk 2023). For instance, in a landmark speech of April 2023, the UN High

Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk explained how the Office works with government

using the concept of human rights economy to “direct investment to address and redress barriers to

equality, justice and sustainability” and “invest maximum available resources in advancing human

rights, notably social protections, universal education and healthcare, food, housing, as well as

delivering an adequate standard of living to all” (Türk 2023).

Lastly, new social contracts may repeat and even entrench or worsen inequalities. Human rights

could play a role in assessing these contracts and provide a well-established framework against which

to identify eco-social contracts that advance social justice and distinguish them from social contracts

that actually do not meet this normative objective. Such an assessment tool may then allow to

distinguish more easily exclusive and unequal social contracts from new eco-social contracts anchored in

human rights.

Human Rights in the New Eco-Social Contract: Exploring a Just Transition through Public Services and Social Security

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Draft conference paper

Appendix(es)

Table 1. Summary of the normative content of selected rights using the AAAQ framework

Adapted from the general comments from the CESCR on these rights. The general comments do not always explicitly use the AAAQ framework,

and this is partly an adaptation of the different texts within a single framework.

Health Care

Education

Food

Housing

Water

General Comment No. 14: The

Right to the Highest Attainable

Standard of Health (Art. 12 of the

Covenant)

General Comment No. 13: The

Right to Education (Art. 13 of the

Covenant)

General Comment No. 12: The

Right to Adequate Food (Art. 11 of

the Covenant)

General Comment No. 4: The Right

to Adequate Housing (Art. 11 (1) of

the Covenant)

General Comment No. 15: The

Right to Water (Arts. 11 and 12 of

the Covenant)

Available

Functioning public health and

health-care facilities, goods and

services, as well as programmes,

have to be available in sufficient

quantity within the State party. The

precise nature of the facilities,

goods and services will vary

depending on numerous factors,

including the State party’s

developmental level. They will

include, however, the underlying

determinants of health, such as

safe and potable drinking water

and adequate sanitation facilities,

hospitals, clinics and other health-

related buildings, trained medical

and professional personnel

receiving domestically competitive

salaries, and essential drugs, as

defined by the WHO Action

Programme on Essential Drugs;

Functioning educational

institutions and programmes have

to be available in sufficient quantity

within the jurisdiction of the State

party. What they require to function

depends upon numerous factors,

including the developmental

context within which they operate;

for example, all institutions and

programmes are likely to require

buildings or other protection from

the elements, sanitation facilities

for both sexes, safe drinking water,

trained teachers receiving

domestically competitive salaries,

teaching materials, and so on;

while some will also require

facilities such as a library,

computer facilities and information

technology;

The possibilities either for feeding

oneself directly from productive

land or other natural resources, or

for well-functioning distribution,

processing and market systems

that can move food from the site of

production to where it is needed in

accordance with demand.

An adequate house must contain

certain facilities essential for

health, security, comfort and

nutrition. All beneficiaries of the

right to adequate housing should

have sustainable access to natural

and common resources, safe

drinking water, energy for cooking,

heating and lighting, sanitation and

washing facilities, means of food

storage, refuse disposal, site

drainage and emergency services

The water supply for each person

must be sufficient and continuous

for personal and domestic uses.

These uses ordinarily include

drinking, personal sanitation,

washing of clothes, food

preparation, personal and

household hygiene. The quantity of

water available for each person

should correspond to World Health

Organization (WHO) guidelines.

Some individuals and groups may

also require additional water due to

health, climate and work

conditions.

health facilities, goods and services

must be within safe physical reach

for all sections of the population,

especially vulnerable or

marginalized groups, such as

ethnic minorities and indigenous

populations, women, children,

adolescents, older persons,

persons with disabilities and

persons with HIV/AIDS.

Accessibility also implies that

medical services and underlying

determinants of health, such as

safe and potable water and

adequate sanitation facilities, are

within safe physical reach,

including in rural areas.

Accessibility further includes

adequate access to buildings for

persons with disabilities

education has to be within safe

physical reach, either by

attendance at some reasonably

convenient geographic location

(e.g. a neighbourhood school) or via

modern technology (e.g. access to

a “distance learning” programme);

Physical accessibility implies that

adequate food must be accessible

to everyone, including physically

vulnerable individuals, such as

infants and young children, elderly

people, the physically disabled, the

terminally ill and persons with

persistent medical problems,

including the mentally ill. Victims of

natural disasters, people living in

disaster-prone areas and other

specially disadvantaged groups

may need special attention and

sometimes priority consideration

with respect to accessibility of food.

A particular vulnerability is that of

many indigenous population groups

whose access to their ancestral

lands may be threatened.

Adequate housing must be in a

location which allows access to

employment options, health-care

services, schools, childcare centres

and other social facilities. This is

true both in large cities and in rural

areas where the temporal and

financial costs of getting to and

from the place of work can place

excessive demands upon the

budgets of poor households.

Similarly, housing should not be

built on polluted sites nor in

immediate proximity to pollution

sources that threaten the right to

health of the inhabitants;

Water, and adequate water

facilities and services, must be

within safe physical reach for all

sections of the population.

Sufficient, safe and acceptable

water must be accessible within, or

in the immediate vicinity, of each

household, educational institution

and workplace. All water facilities

and services must be of sufficient

quality, culturally appropriate and

sensitive to gender, life-cycle and

privacy requirements. Physical

security should not be threatened

during access to water facilities

and services;

Accessible

Physical

Human Rights in the New Eco-Social Contract: Exploring a Just Transition through Public Services and Social Security

health facilities, goods and services

must be affordable for all. Payment

for health-care services, as well as

services related to the underlying

determinants of health, has to be

based on the principle of equity,

ensuring that these services,

whether privately or publicly

provided, are affordable for all,

including socially disadvantaged

groups. Equity demands that

poorer households should not be

disproportionately burdened with

health expenses as compared to

richer households

education has to be affordable to

all. This dimension of accessibility

is subject to the differential

wording of article 13 (2) in relation

to primary, secondary and higher

education: whereas primary

education shall be available “free

to all”, States parties are required

to progressively introduce free

secondary and higher education;

Economic accessibility implies that

personal or household financial

costs associated with the

acquisition of food for an adequate

diet should be at a level such that

the attainment and satisfaction of

other basic needs are not

threatened or compromised.

Economic accessibility applies to

any acquisition pattern or

entitlement through which people

procure their food and is a

measure of the extent to which it is

satisfactory for the enjoyment of

the right to adequate food. Socially

vulnerable groups such as landless

persons and other particularly

impoverished segments of the

population may need attention

through special programmes.

Personal or household financial costs

associated with housing should be at

such a level that the attainment and

satisfaction of other basic needs are

not threatened or compromised.

Steps should be taken by States

parties to ensure that the percentage

of housing-related costs is, in general,

commensurate with income levels.

States parties should establish

housing subsidies for those unable to

obtain affordable housing, as well as

forms and levels of housing finance

which adequately reflect housing

needs. In accordance with the

principle of affordability, tenants

should be protected by appropriate

means against unreasonable rent

levels or rent increases. In societies

where natural materials constitute

the chief sources of building

materials for housing, steps should

be taken by States parties to ensure

the availability of such materials;

Water, and water facilities and

services, must be affordable for all.

The direct and indirect costs and

charges associated with securing

water must be affordable, and

must not compromise or threaten

the realization of other Covenant

rights

health facilities, goods and services

must be accessible to all,

especially the most vulnerable or

marginalized sections of the

population, in law and in fact,

without discrimination on any of

the prohibited grounds

education must be accessible to

all, especially the most vulnerable

groups, in law and fact, without

discrimination on any of the

prohibited grounds (see paras. 31-

37 on non-discrimination);

Furthermore, any discrimination in

access to food, as well as to means

and entitlements for its

procurement, on the grounds of

race, colour, sex, language, age,

religion, political or other opinion,

national or social origin, property,

birth or other status with the

purpose or effect of nullifying or

impairing the equal enjoyment or

exercise of economic, social and

cultural rights constitutes a

violation of the Covenant.

Disadvantaged groups must be

accorded full and sustainable

access to adequate housing

resources. Thus, such

disadvantaged groups as the

elderly, children, the physically

disabled, the terminally ill, HIV-

positive individuals, persons with

persistent medical problems, the

mentally ill, victims of natural

disasters, people living in disaster-

prone areas and other groups

should be ensured some degree of

priority consideration in the

housing sphere. Both housing law

and policy should take fully into

account the special housing needs

of these groups. Within many

States parties increasing access to

land by landless or impoverished

segments of the society should

constitute a central policy goal.

Discernible governmental

obligations need to be developed

aiming to substantiate the right of

all to a secure place to live in

peace and dignity, including access

to land as an entitlement;

Water and water facilities and

services must be accessible to all,

including the most vulnerable or

marginalized sections of the

population, in law and in fact,

without discrimination on any of

the prohibited grounds; and

Economic

Discrimination

Draft conference paper

accessibility includes the right to

seek, receive and impart

information and ideas8 concerning

health issues. However,

accessibility of information should

not impair the right to have

personal health data treated with

confidentiality;

Accessibility includes the right to

seek, receive and impart

information concerning water

issues.

All health facilities, goods and

services must be respectful of

medical ethics and culturally

appropriate, i.e. respectful of the

culture of individuals, minorities,

peoples and communities,

sensitive to gender and life-cycle

requirements, as well as being

designed to respect confidentiality

and improve the health status of

those concerned;

the form and substance of

education, including curricula and

teaching methods, have to be

acceptable (e.g. relevant, culturally

appropriate and of good quality) to

students and, in appropriate cases,

parents; this is subject to the

educational objectives required by

article 13 (1) and such minimum

educational standards as may be

approved by the State (see art. 13

(3) and (4));

Acceptability implies that the diet as a

whole contains a mix of nutrients for

physical and mental growth,

development and maintenance, and

physical activity that are in

compliance with human physiological

needs at all stages throughout the life

cycle and according to gender and

occupation. Measures may therefore

need to be taken to maintain, adapt

or strengthen dietary diversity and

appropriate consumption and feeding

patterns, including breastfeeding,

while ensuring that changes in

availability and access to food supply

as a minimum do not negatively

affect dietary composition and intake;

implies the need also to take into

account, as far as possible, perceived

non-nutrient-based values attached

to food and food consumption and

informed consumer concerns

regarding the nature of accessible

food supplies.

The way housing is constructed,

the building materials used and the

policies supporting these must

appropriately enable the

expression of cultural identity and

diversity of housing. Activities

geared towards development or

modernization in the housing

sphere should ensure that the

cultural dimensions of housing are

not sacrificed, and that, inter alia,

modern technological facilities, as

appropriate are also ensured.

Furthermore, water should be of an

acceptable colour, odour and taste

for each personal or domestic use;

As well as being culturally

acceptable, health facilities, goods

and services must also be

scientifically and medically

appropriate and of good quality.

This requires, inter alia, skilled

medical personnel, scientifically

approved and unexpired drugs and

hospital equipment, safe and

potable water, and adequate

sanitation.

General Comment No. 13 uses

“Adaptability” instead of “Quality”:

“education has to be flexible so it

can adapt to the needs of changing

societies and communities and

respond to the needs of students

within their diverse social and

cultural settings.”

Quality involves setting

requirements for food safety and

for a range of protective measures

by both public and private means

to prevent contamination of

foodstuffs through adulteration

and/or through bad environmental

hygiene or inappropriate handling

at different stages throughout the

food chain; care must also be

taken to identify and avoid or

destroy naturally occurring toxins

Adequate housing must be

habitable, in terms of providing the

inhabitants with adequate space

and protecting them from cold,

damp, heat, rain, wind or other

threats to health, structural

hazards, and disease vectors. The

physical safety of occupants must

be guaranteed as well. The

Committee encourages States

parties to comprehensively apply

the Health Principles of Housing

prepared by WHO which view

housing as the environmental

factor most frequently associated

with conditions for disease in

epidemiological analyses; i.e.

inadequate and deficient housing

and living conditions are invariably

associated with higher mortality

and morbidity rates;

The water required for each

personal or domestic use must be

safe, therefore free from micro-

organisms, chemical substances

and radiological hazards that

constitute a threat to a person’s

health.

Information

Acceptable

Quality