"The world is faced with significant and interrelated challenges in the 21st century which threaten human rights in a number of ways. This book examines the relationship between human rights and three of the largest challenges of the 21st century: conflict & security, environment, and poverty. Technological advances in war-fighting have led to the introduction of new weapons which threaten to transform the very nature of conflict. In addition, states confront threats to security which arise from a new set of international actors that are not clearly defined and which operate globally. Climate change, with its potentially catastrophic impacts, features a combination of characteristics which are novel for humanity. The problem is caused by the sum of innumerable individual actions across the globe and over time, and similarly involves risks that are geographically and temporally diffuse. In recent decades, the challenges involved in addressing global and national poverty have also changed. For example, the relative share of the poor in the world population has decreased significantly while the relative share of the poor who live in countries with significant domestic capacity has increased strongly. Overcoming these global and interlocking threats constitutes this century's core political and moral task. This book examines how these challenges may be addressed using a human rights framework. It considers how these challenges threaten human rights and seeks to reassess our understanding of human rights in the light of these challenges. The analysis considers both foundational and applied questions. The approach is multidisciplinary and contributors include some of the most prominent lawyers, philosophers and political theorists in the debate. The authors include leading academics as well as those who have played important roles in shaping the policy debates on these questions. Each of the sections includes contributions by those who have served as Special Rapporteurs within the United Nations human rights system on the challenges under consideration"-- Provided by publisher.