Empowering National Human Rights Institutions to Advance Rights-Based Climate Action 33 NHRIs identified their main obstacles in ensuring strong and effective advocacy engagements to ensure that national level CCMA initiatives give due consideration and respect the rights of the vulnerable and marginalised communities in their countries. Most cited challenges are the lack of data on affected communities and insufficient engagement with the communities. Insufficient strategic focus of the NHRIs in this particular area is also identified as a challenge. In providing additional details, some NHRIs indicated resource constraints and staff capacity as hindrances to NHRIs being more effective in this area (Figure 10). At the individual NHRI level, NHRC Bangladesh indicated active participation in shaping national climate policies like the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) and the Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan. While initially not involved in the creation of such documents, in recent years, the NHRC Bangladesh has become more proactive, providing feedback and conducting studies to inform future advocacy. Their advocacy efforts focus on disaster management, deforestation, and crop loss, emphasising the need to integrate human rights perspectives into climate change initiatives. Collaborating with HRDs, the NHRC Bangladesh monitors environmental degradation and raises awareness of illegal land occupation, advocating for policies that protect vulnerable communities, including in relation to resettlement issues. The NHRC India emphasises the role of its internal independent expert committees in overseeing human rights impacts of large-scale development and infrastructure projects. While the NHRC India has opportunities to contribute human rights perspectives, their direct involvement in early project development stages is limited. Despite these constraints, NHRC India focuses on ensuring compliance with environmental regulations and advocating for the rights of those affected by large-scale projects, such as dams and mining initiatives. The NHRC’s engagement with the government agencies underscores the necessity of integrating human rights considerations into the planning and execution of development projects. In the Maldives, HRCM reported that they face challenges in monitoring and advocating for climate-related issues due to a lack of timely information from the government and the public’s limited understanding of the intersection between environmental and human rights issues. Although the Commission has engaged in activities related to environmental rights, it has not prioritised climate change specifically in its advocacy. Recognising the human rights implications of environmental issues for vulnerable communities, the HRCM seeks to enhance its capacity to address climate change more effectively, highlighting the need for a comprehensive strategy and public awareness. NHRC Nepal actively advocates for marginalised communities affected by climate change, particularly indigenous peoples and those displaced by environmental impacts. While their advocacy is not always directly tied to climate action, NHRC Nepal has engaged