A geopolítica das mudanças climáticas: as violações de direitos humanos e as políticas ambientais globais

Abstract

The climate crisis constitutes one of the most complex expressions of contemporary socio-environmental contradictions, intertwining ecological degradation, territorial inequalities, geopolitical disputes, and human rights violations on a global scale. This dissertation analyzes the anthropogenic climate crisis through the intersection of geopolitics, international climate governance, and human rights, with particular attention to the historical and structural asymmetries between the Global North and the Global South. It is grounded in the understanding that climate change is not merely an environmental phenomenon, but rather a crisis produced by historical processes of industrialization, the expansion of fossil capitalism, and the unequal appropriation of natural resources, whose impacts fall disproportionately on historically vulnerable populations and territories. Methodologically, this study adopts a qualitative approach based on bibliographic and documentary research, drawing on specialized academic literature, scientific reports, and international normative documents related to climate governance and human rights. The analysis examines the consolidation of the scientific consensus regarding the anthropogenic origin of the climate crisis, the trajectory of international climate governance and its main institutional milestones, as well as the structural limitations of multilateral regimes designed to address the crisis, marked by the centrality of state sovereignty, geopolitical disputes, the influence of economic interests associated with fossil fuels, and the growing financialization of climate responses. In the field of human rights, the dissertation argues that the climate crisis constitutes a structural and multidimensional violation of fundamental rights, undermining rights such as life, health, food, water, housing, and the self-determination of peoples, while also placing pressure on international mechanisms of accountability and protection. It concludes that current climate governance models remain insufficient in the face of the magnitude of the crisis, insofar as they reproduce historical power asymmetries and constrain the development of responses genuinely guided by climate justice. Finally, it argues that addressing the climate crisis requires not only greater institutional ambition, but also structural transformations in development models, global power relations, and contemporary forms of socio-environmental governance.