Looking into the concept of and the three generations of human rights, the paper traces the international recognition of human rights from the early nineteenth century to the contemporary period. It specifically examines the recent development with regard to the explicit linkage between climate change and human rights since December 2005 when an alliance of the Inuit from Canada and the United States presented a petition before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. This culminated in the adoption of Resolution 10/4 on human rights and climate change by the U.N. Human Rights Council on March 25, 2009. The paper concludes that it will be effective to tackle climate change and environmental degradation through recognition of environmental rights as human rights. It further recommends negotiation of an elaborate treaty on environmental rights by the United Nations (UN), establishment of an international environmental court and setting up an environmental trust fund.