Climate Adaptation and Human Rights is an online course by Lund University that explores how human rights and gender equality can be integrated into climate adaptation policies, programmes, and decision-making. The course is designed for learners who want to understand climate adaptation not only as a technical or environmental challenge, but also as a question of justice, dignity, equality, and accountability.
Throughout the course, learners examine how climate change affects people differently depending on factors such as gender, age, disability, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, location, and access to resources. It introduces key concepts such as climate risk, vulnerability, exposure, adaptive capacity, non-discrimination, equality, and the “triple planetary crisis”. A central focus is the rights-based FIRE framework, which helps learners analyse climate adaptation through the lens of human rights.
The course connects international human rights law with practical climate adaptation challenges. Learners explore how rights such as the right to life, health, water, housing, equality, access to information, public participation, and access to justice relate to climate action. Through examples and case studies, the course shows how adaptation measures can either reduce harm and strengthen resilience, or, if poorly designed, deepen existing inequalities and create new risks for affected communities.
The course culminates in a practical application module in which learners engage with a concrete scenario about a coastal community facing sea level rise and other hazards. This includes an AI-based role play exercise and a peer-reviewed written assignment in which learners draft a memo recommending improvements to a government’s planned relocation strategy.
This course is especially relevant for students and professionals working in human rights, climate justice, sustainability, development, public policy, humanitarian action, local governance, civil society, journalism, international organisations, and advocacy. By the end of the course, learners will be better equipped to assess climate adaptation strategies from a human rights perspective, identify groups most at risk, and reflect on how adaptation policies can be designed in ways that are fair, participatory, accountable, and socially sustainable. The course is suitable for learners interested in moving from theory to practice and applying rights-based approaches to real-world climate adaptation challenges.