I know, I know, it’s a bit of a trope to talk about the need for a “holistic approach” within UN spaces. I don’t think I’ve ever heard the phrase “synergy” or “breaking silos” so much as in the time I’ve been attending UN events in Geneva. However, despite the cliché messaging, environmental decision-making is … Read More.
There is a very good chance that California taxpayers will be on the hook for $500 million in future costs of plugging so-called “orphan” oil and gas wells, and a good chance the number could be as high as $5.7 billion, according to a new report. The report, released Friday by the California Council on … Read More.
For years, wealthy nations have flooded developing countries with toxic plastic waste under the guise of “recycling.” Now, the international community has almost unanimously agreed to finally tackle the plastic waste trade crisis, but the US is, naturally, attempting to circumvent the new standards. The practice of shipping plastic to other countries has been the … Read More.
The world has changed profoundly in the last thirty years. Time and again, CIEL has helped to shape that change — from helping to link human rights and the environment in law, to making the World Bank accountable to the communities affected by its projects, to creating and strengthening treaties to address a diverse array … Read More.
Chile’s last-minute decision not to host this year’s COP undercuts efforts by local communities and Indigenous Peoples to expose climate-related injustices happening in Santiago’s backyard. In response, CIEL is working with Chilean partners to make sure that Chilean voices are still heard and that human rights concerns remain at the center of the climate negotiations. … Read More.
Against the backdrop of increasing climate destruction and mass mobilizations calling for climate leadership, COP-25 must deliver urgent, rights-based climate action. Climate change dominated the headlines throughout 2019. There were stories of the startling reality of living in a world with 1ºc of warming: climate change-fueled storms like Hurricanes Idai and Kenneth devastated Mozambique, unprecedented … Read More.
I still sometimes think of toxic chemicals in terms of the neon green radioactive goo of The Simpsons. It’s easy to forget that our exposure to toxics is much more insidious and commonplace. It’s in the air we breathe, water we drink, food we eat, and things we buy. The ubiquity of toxic exposure means … Read More.
Fracking destroys communities, endangers health, and perpetuates our addiction to fossil fuels. Yet, US tax dollars are still being poured into these destructive projects. Recently, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) voted to exacerbate the climate crisis, approving over $450 million of US taxpayer dollars to finance two large fracking projects in the region of … Read More.
In December 2017, a picturesque beach-side community along California’s central coast became the newest victim of the climate crisis. The Thomas Fire burned over 280,000 acres, destroyed at least 1,000 structures, displaced over 107,000 people, and cost almost $2 billion in damages. Thomas held the title of the largest wildfire in California’s history for less … Read More.
Is your cotton tote really worse than your plastic bag? Claims promoting plastic as a “climate-friendly” material have managed to inundate the social media landscape lately, perpetuating a fundamental misunderstanding of the link between plastic, fossil fuels, and climate change. Plastic and climate change are not mutually exclusive; they are inherently interconnected. Claims that plastic … Read More.
We know that climate change will affect our environment, but what about our financial security and ability to retire? Climate change poses economic risks, but businesses and pension funds can plan ahead and protect their investments and our futures from climate breakdown. In early July, a group of United States congresspeople introduced the Climate Risk … Read More.
“Land provides the principal basis for human livelihoods.” With this statement the IPCC begins the Summary for Policy Makers of its new Special Report on Climate Change and Land. In the report, the IPCC sends a clear message that we need urgent action to combat the climate crisis. Only by achieving “compatibility between specific land … Read More.
Back in 2017, we shared some juicy updates on the EU’s newly proposed criteria to identify endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs). But what has happened since then? Spoiler alert: The Commission is (still) as slow as molasses, and the chemical lobby can gloat as essential public health protections continue to be delayed. Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals: A Refresher Endocrine-disrupting … Read More.
In late June, Philip Alston, the UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty, released a report on climate change and human rights that received significant international coverage. This report does not beat around the bush: we are on the verge of a situation where “the wealthy pay to escape overheating, hunger, and conflict while the rest … Read More.
In May, 187 countries came together to take concrete action to address the plastic crisis. This important new rule will empower countries, particularly in Southeast Asia, to stop a flood of plastic waste from reaching their shores. While it can often take the global community years — even decades — to come to an agreement, it … Read More.
Climate solutions that disregard human rights are not solutions at all. Including proper social and environmental safeguards in climate mitigation and adaptation is crucial for ensuring just, ambitious, and effective climate action. In Bonn, Germany, climate experts are coming together for the latest session of the UN climate negotiations. This is their first meeting since … Read More.
“When our great grandchildren look back on the 21st century, they will see that government sanctioned climate destruction was the constitutional issue of this century.” – Julia Olson Thousands watched on as 21 young people returned to court for the latest hearing in Juliana v. United States, a constitutional climate lawsuit also known as Youth … Read More.
A 42% decline in land-based animal and plant species in Europe and Central Asia. 12 million hectares of forest in the world’s tropical regions lost in 2018. One million species threatened with extinction. These are a small sample of the sobering findings of a recently released 1800-page Global Assessment on Biodiversity.[1] This comprehensive study paints … Read More.
Across the planet, people are increasingly feeling the impacts of climate change on their enjoyment of human rights. From loss of human life brought about by climate-related disasters, to threats to food security and access to clean water, no country is immune. The urgency of action to address climate change — and the scale of … Read More.
Now that the Supreme Court has ruled the World Bank can be sued, what’s next for the organization? This article originally appeared on TheNation.com. Until recently the World Bank enjoyed absolute immunity in the United States from lawsuits. But a US Supreme Court decision on February 27 opens the door for individuals and communities around … Read More.
On March 21, the 40th session of the Human Rights Council has adopted a first-of-its-kind resolution recognizing the importance of environmental human rights defenders and their protection. Over the last three weeks, the Human Right Council (HRC) has rolled up its sleeves to further promote and protect human rights around the world. During this session, … Read More.
“Planet hotter than my boyfriend,” “I’ve seen smarter cabinets at IKEA,” “It’s getting hot in here, so take off all your coals” — these are just some of the many protest signs carried by a mobilization of tens of thousands of students worldwide demanding action to prevent climate change. With strikes in Australia, Belgium, Canada, … Read More.
On February 13, the Center for International Environmental Law launched a major new report examining the repeated and ongoing instances in which fossil fuel companies played a disproportionate role in promotion of carbon capture and storage, carbon dioxide removal strategies, and other geoengineering techniques. As we expected it to do, the report sparked excitement among … Read More.
From March 11th to 15th, Ministers of the Environment from 193 countries will gather in Nairobi, Kenya, for the fourth meeting of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) with the potential to propel our society into a new era of sustainability. UNEA, the official governing body of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the highest-level … Read More.
This blog post was originally posted by the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. There is a global health crisis hiding in plain sight. It’s being transported along our roadways and released into our skies. It surrounds us in our homes and offices. It plagues our oceans, our waterways, and our soil. It’s even in the food we … Read More.
Bradnee Chambers (1966-2019) Nature and humanity lost a true friend with Bradnee Chambers’ passing on January 23, 2019. A Canadian, Bradnee began his United Nations career at United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) working on investment and transparency and then at the United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies; but he found his … Read More.
Around the world, threats against those who speak out to defend their environment and human rights are growing. In 2018, 321 human rights defenders were killed — a rate of six people every week. Environmental and human rights activists are also criminalized and face trumped-up criminal charges, defamation, and arbitrary detentions. And corporations are diversifying their … Read More.
As the global transition to a low-carbon economy continued to accelerate, the impacts and responses to climate change dominated the news in 2018. The billions of dollars in property damages, lost businesses, and declines in state and local tax revenue in the US continues to reinforce concerns about the urgency of the climate crisis and … Read More.
Again and again, our work makes clear to us that the world is filled with people ready to stand up. The world is filled with leaders. They are mobilized. They are fighting in cities and countrysides and courtrooms across the world. Every day, the movement to defend human rights and the environment grows, and we’re … Read More.
The UN Human Rights Council is negotiating a treaty to end corporate impunity for human rights violations. The open-ended intergovernmental working group on “transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights” completed its fourth round of negotiations in October, where they discussed the so-called “Zero Draft” of a treaty on transnational corporations, or “TNC Treaty.” … Read More.
We are overwhelmed by plastic pollution. This is the last call to save the planet. Marine plastic pollution is now under the magnifying glass of a group of experts tasked with recommending a global response to the plastics crisis. Here’s what to expect at their meeting next week. Plastics are a product of the fossil … Read More.
At the climate negotiations this December, countries must adopt guidelines for implementing the Paris Agreement at the national level. The Paris Implementation Guidelines are essential to ensuring that climate action around the world keeps global temperature rise below 1.5°C while respecting and protecting human rights. But after multiple rounds of talks, including a special session … Read More.
Twenty-five years ago today, the answer to the question, “Where do we go if we are harmed by the World Bank?” changed from nowhere to the Inspection Panel. We live in an ever changing and more complicated world, where corporations have investors, managers, shareholders, and oversight from all over the world, and operations are owned … Read More.
In August 2015, 21 young people brought a federal climate lawsuit against the US government. The landmark trial was set to begin October 29, 2018, but the Supreme Court recently granted a temporary stay of the case following yet another request from the Trump Administration. Attorneys for the youth plaintiffs have filed a response pointing … Read More.
Their names are Rashida, Anne, and Carlos. Like millions of others, they are suffering from the adverse health impacts of pollution, being forcefully relocated due to the impacts of climate change, or losing a relative who was assassinated for standing up for the ecosystems on which his or her community depends. For them, there is … Read More.
In the 1960s, investing in plastics was a safe bet, and the plastics boom showed no sign of slowing down. But in 2018, the future of the plastic industry is less clear. In the US, plastic production is ramping up as natural gas fracking has led to extremely cheap feedstocks for plastic production. The plastic … Read More.
As I wrote in a previous post, the Early Warning System (EWS) helps make development work for everyone by offering communities the opportunity to have a say in projects that might impact them. But how does this play out in everyday life? (Or, in other words, what do I do all day besides read bank … Read More.
In March, we celebrated the adoption of the Escazú Agreement, a legally binding regional agreement guaranteeing access to information, participation, and justice in environmental matters in Latin America and the Caribbean. This marked the end of a five-year process led by the UN Economic Commission of Latin America and the Caribbean to codify the “access … Read More.
Strong evidence suggests that titanium dioxide is a carcinogen, but industry manufacturers are moving to block the implementation of European legislation to label the dangerous chemical in their products. If it’s successful, this lobbying effort could put at risk one of the strongest science-based regulations to protect public health from harmful substances. Titanium dioxide can … Read More.
Videos of plastic waves hitting pristine waters in Southeast Asia and the Caribbean shocked the world. Those images soon became viral, making us wonder: How did plastic end up there? How can we stop this? Of course, plastics don’t just “end up” on developing countries’ shores. It all starts with fossil fuels being extracted and … Read More.
In next week’s final preparatory meeting before the Paris Climate Agreement Guidelines are finalized, Parties must more explicitly address the social dimensions of climate policies. The adoption of the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015 offered the promise an integrated approach to climate action and human rights. Indeed, the agreement was the first global environmental treaty … Read More.
CIEL and Friends of the Earth filed a complaint to the European Ombudsman about the problematic public consultation on the Multilateral Investment Court, which was too little and too late to allow the public to provide meaningful input. The Multilateral Investment Court is an EU-proposed global court for corporations — one that would deepen … Read More.
The Early Warning System (EWS)’s digital platform will be soon be made public, after years of hard work to improve the back-end of the site. But what is the Early Warning System, and why is it needed? When I began my internship at the Center for International Environment Law (CIEL), I couldn’t answer either of … Read More.
European governments have the opportunity (and the legal duty) to promote public participation in the implementation of climate action, yet some fail to do so. The 2015 Paris Climate Agreement was celebrated not only for bringing together all countries around the urgency of climate action, but also for emphasizing the importance of people-centered climate action. … Read More.
What do sunscreen, toothpaste, and pastries have in common? Many of them contain a chemical called titanium dioxide, or TiO2, which is used to increase whiteness and block UV rays. Yet this same chemical — the one slathered on your kids when it’s sunny out and that goes into your mouth when you brush your … Read More.
Today, the Trump Administration released the Safe Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles Rule that would loosen the carbon emissions standards for passenger cars and light trucks for 2021 through 2026 and roll back the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) program, which set standards to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve fuel economy for 2017-2025 cars and … Read More.
In 2006, the United States and Peru signed the first bilateral trade agreement to recognize and seek to address the pervasive issue of illegal logging. Among other innovative provisions, the US-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement (TPA) included a forestry section that allows the US to detain questionable shipments of Peruvian timber and created an independent oversight … Read More.
In yet another frontier of the expanding struggle for climate justice, Rhode Island is the first US state to sue fossil fuel companies for the impacts of climate change. Climate change — with its rising sea levels and more frequent and severe natural disasters, like 2012’s Superstorm Sandy — is already impacting and extensively damaging … Read More.
When it comes to trade and investment policy, environmental democracy is still an emerging idea — an aspiration for some, a foreign concept for others, and a reality for almost no one. What is environmental democracy? It’s the concept that when governments make laws and policies that affect human rights or the environment, they must … Read More.
When a project funded by the World Bank and other development banks harms local communities, where can they turn to? Unfortunately, there are few ways for affected people to hold the bank responsible for even the most dire human rights and environmental abuses. And in the US, these organizations have absolute legal immunity, meaning that … Read More.
You may not know about endocrine disruptors, but chances are they’re in your body. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) interfere with the body’s hormonal system and are linked to developmental, reproductive, neurological, and immune effects in both humans and animals. EDCs are most toxic at our most vulnerable: Exposure to these chemicals in the womb or during … Read More.
On April 23, 2018, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued new guidance for private sector employee benefit plans about fiduciary responsibility in the exercise of shareholder rights and in weighing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors in investment decision-making. At a time when public pension beneficiaries are expressing concerns about the prudence of retaining fossil … Read More.
On March 7, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order denying the US government’s request for a writ of mandamus in youth climate lawsuit Juliana v. US. Now, this landmark climate case returns to the district court, with the trial date set for October 29, 2018. What is Juliana v. US about? In … Read More.
From water bottles to smartphones, tens of thousands of chemicals are used around the world to make billions of products. Some of these chemicals are harmless. Others, however, carry toxic properties, affecting the development of children at their most vulnerable stages, damaging the environment, and building up in our bodies over time, compounding their already … Read More.
On January 4, the US Department of the Interior (DoI) released a new offshore drilling proposal. The proposal, formally called the Draft Proposed Program for the Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2019-2024, follows Mr. Trump’s April 2017 Executive Order to open much of the United States’ oceans to offshore drilling exploration. … Read More.
From April 30 to May 10, countries will come together for a United Nations climate meeting, to continue to make progress toward implementing the Paris Agreement and meeting key goals at this year’s COP24 climate conference in Poland. To ensure positive climate outcomes that benefit both the planet and communities across the world, we must … Read More.
When countries adopted the Paris Agreement in 2015, they agreed to convene a “facilitative dialogue,” which would allow countries to come together to evaluate the world’s progress toward the goals of the Agreement. At last year’s climate talks, countries adopted the Talanoa Dialogue as the concept for this facilitative dialogue. The Talanoa Dialogue platform provides … Read More.
Our oceans, river systems, marine animals, and health are being threatened by a pollutant that’s all around us, yet sometimes invisible to the eye: plastics. Whether it’s an empty bag of chips floating in a nearby stream or microplastics ingested by both humans and marine animals, plastics have become a ubiquitous and destructive commodity. As … Read More.
A new frontier opened today in the struggle for climate justice as EarthRights International (ERI) brings the fight for climate accountability from the coasts to the mountains. In a new case filed in Colorado District Court, Boulder County, San Miguel County, and the City of Boulder filed suit against ExxonMobil and Suncor Energy demanding that the … Read More.
In 2013, Mexico’s president Enrique Peña Nieto Peña Nieto touted the country’s energy reform as a “historic opportunity” to “transform and elevate the quality of life of all Mexicans.” The constitutional changes, which ended decades-long monopolies on oil, gas, and electricity held by two state-owned companies, have both Mexican and foreign private competitors salivating at … Read More.
At a time when a number of States are working to accelerate negotiations of international trade and investment agreements, an open-ended intergovernmental working group (IGWG) is working to draft a legally binding instrument (a transnational corporate accountability treaty) to address the legal imbalance between the rights and obligations of global businesses and those of the … Read More.
Industry is currently investing billions in capacity to expand plastic production. But as the world phases out fossil fuels and awareness of the dangers of plastics increases, it begs the question: Is plastic production a good long-term investment? Around the world, countries, cities, and individuals are ramping up efforts to phase out fossil fuels, but … Read More.
Sales receipts, food containers, beverage cans, and plastic water bottles: you have probably used one of these objects in the last few days. What do they have in common? They are very useful and it is difficult to avoid them. What else? Many contain bisphenols. Bisphenols are a family of synthetic organic compounds used to … Read More.
Imagine: Sacred graves destroyed, subjected to toxic waste dumps, and shrunken to a small 2.2-acre area of what is now the parking lot of Spenger’s Fish Restaurant. Since the eighteenth century, the Ohlone tribe have been fighting to protect their ancestral burial grounds. Now, a 5,700-year-old Ohlone Shellmound and Village Sacred Site is under threat … Read More.
Around the world, the connection between human rights and a healthy environment is becoming ever more obvious — as communities are harmed by mining projects, as people are displaced by climate change, and as cities and towns are devastated by extreme weather. That’s why the historic decision of the Inter-American Court on Human Rights in March was … Read More.
On the eve of International Women’s Day, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) adopted a new General Recommendation on the gender-related dimensions of disaster risk reduction in the context of climate change. It marks a major milestone in tackling the particular impacts climate change has on the rights of women and girls … Read More.
What role can NGOs play in the enforcement of environmental treaties? How can compliance and implementation bodies encourage civil society participation in their reviews? What, if any, is the value of involving members of the public in the process? These are some of the questions presented at a roundtable discussion of compliance committee representatives at … Read More.
The EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) is designed to facilitate the unfettered expansion of trade between the EU and Canada, including by limiting the regulatory burden for companies in both jurisdictions. This means harmonizing regulations, which historically has meant reducing them to the lowest common denominator; reducing the discretion regulators have to tailor … Read More.
The Aarhus Convention is a multilateral environmental treaty, ratified by 47 States throughout Europe and Central Asia, that commits States Parties to effectively protecting three fundamental rights that are critical to effective environmental governance: the right of access to information, the right of public participation, and the right of access to justice with regard to … Read More.
From Monday, February 26, to Thursday, March 1, the Board of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) will meet for its nineteenth meeting (B.19) in Songdo, South Korea. Among the issues on the agenda are key policies to protect the environment and the rights of indigenous peoples, women, and local communities in GCF-funded projects. CIEL and … Read More.
Single-use plastics — such as plastic packaging, light-weight plastic bags, disposable cups, and food containers — make up an estimated half of the plastics found on EU beaches. To tackle this issue of global concern, the EU is starting to take action to curb the amount of plastic entering the oceans from its shores. On … Read More.
In most international organizations, including the United Nations (UN) and the World Trade Organization (WTO), conventional wisdom is that international trade supports sustainable development. “Trade growth enhances a country’s income generating capacity, which is one of the essential prerequisites for achieving sustainable development,” the WTO noted in the 2016 UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable … Read More.
Around 25.8 million tons of plastic waste are generated in Europe every year, of which less than 30 percent is collected for recycling. Of this amount, a significant share leaves the EU to be treated in other countries, where different environmental standards may apply. From the EU alone, 150,000 to 500,000 tons of plastic waste … Read More.
In what has become the go-to intimidation tactic for Exxon and its allies, Exxon has announced that it is launching yet another baseless, vexatious discovery process designed to prove that every city, state, journalist, and nonprofit that investigates the company is part of a massive conspiracy to suppress its constitutional rights. Exxon’s latest targets (and … Read More.
Despite claims that development projects are designed to benefit communities around the world, they often do the opposite. Projects, especially infrastructure projects, can bring myriad problems — impacting access to or quality of water, forcing communities to resettle, infringing on grazing land, and polluting the air, water, and land, among other devastating consequences. When things go … Read More.
On November 27 through December 1, the Standing Committee of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) met to discuss measures countries are taking worldwide to halt the illegal trade of endangered species. With substantive discussions around protections for rosewood, pangolins, sei whales, and other at-risk species, CITES affirmed its vital role … Read More.
On December 12, 2017, hundreds of investors, governments, and civil society representatives joined French President Emmanuel Macron at the One Planet Summit to mark the second anniversary of the Paris Agreement. President Macron—joined by UN Secretary General António Guterres, Work Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim, and others—encouraged public and private financial institutions to accelerate … Read More.
The World Bank will be rolling out its new environmental and social policy in 2018. The objective of this policy is “to help protect people and the environment in the investment projects it finances.” Yet after years of statements, meetings, unending papers, and heated debates, the bank created a system of open-ended compliance, discretionary rules, … Read More.
The last year has demanded more from all of us — more resilience, more innovation, more courage, more solidarity. In 2017, your support helped us… Tackle Plastic Pollution at its Source Our newly launched Fueling Plastics initiative is highlighting the deep links between plastics and fossil fuels, the primary chemical feedstock in over 99% of … Read More.
November 27 – December 1, more than 40 governments met as part of a working group of the UN Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) to discuss reforms to the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) system. The conversation focused primarily on identifying problems with ISDS, while potential solutions — including the EU’s proposed Multilateral Investment Court … Read More.
At the 23rd Conference of the Parties (COP23) in international climate negotiations, two inspiring and important steps were made toward incorporating human rights and social principles in climate action, in spite of slow progress on establishing the rules to implement the Paris Agreement. At COP23, negotiators met to create the rulebook (to be adopted in … Read More.
“Honduras is ready for you,” was the message of Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez to international businessmen who gathered recently in Dallas, Texas, to learn about investment opportunities in Honduras. The crown jewel for investors is the opportunity to invest in special Employment and Economic Development Zones, or ZEDEs, in Honduras. These zones create independent … Read More.
From November 27 to December 6 in Nairobi, Kenya, the CIEL team will participate in the third meeting of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-3). UNEA, the main governing body of the United Nations Environment Programme, is the highest political forum on environmental matters, involving all 193 Member States of the UN, as well as … Read More.
You’re going to your sister’s house for a holiday dinner. Your son begins pestering you to bring his favorite pie (pecan), even though your niece is deathly allergic to nuts. Before bringing the potentially hazardous treat, you’ll probably check with your sister to see if it is ok, right? That is how the Rotterdam Convention … Read More.
A Breach of the Fundamental Purpose of Public Participation in Decision-Making Mechanisms that enable decision-makers to hear from the public are at the heart of democratic governance. One of the most common mechanisms is public consultation, which improves the transparency, coherency, and legitimacy of government decision-making. The right of the people to take part in … Read More.
On November 13, a German appeals court agreed to review evidence supporting arguments by Peruvian farmer Saul Luciano Lliuya in his case against German energy giant RWE for the company’s contributions to climate change impacts that are now threatening his Andean home. Lliuya argues that RWE, as one of the world’s biggest emitters of carbon … Read More.
When it comes to making corporations take responsibility for the human rights impacts of their global operations, voluntary measures are insufficient. That’s why countries met from October 23-27 to negotiate an international, legally binding instrument on Transnational Corporations (TNCs) and other Business Enterprises with respect to human rights. Representatives from more than 100 states and … Read More.
With growing concerns about whether government is adequately responding to the impacts of climate change, citizens worldwide are bringing climate litigation cases to the courts. This summer, the Mataatua District Māori Council (“the Māori Council”) filed an action with the Waitangi Tribunal to grant an urgent hearing against the New Zealand government. According to the … Read More.
Building on the momentum in the two years since the adoption of the Paris Agreement, the upcoming COP23 is an opportunity for negotiators to reiterate the importance of human rights in climate action and take concrete steps toward implementing the agreement at a global scale. There is no doubt: climate change is a human rights … Read More.
Economic growth and foreign investment can have a positive impact by bringing jobs, development, and improvements to social welfare. But when businesses are able to act with impunity, they undermine these benefits and can cause serious human rights and environmental violations. For this reason, countries are joining together to creating binding obligations for corporations abroad, … Read More.
With 2018 fast approaching, countries around the world are joining together to draft two global compacts, the first one for safe, orderly, and regular migration and the second on refugees. As countries deliberate on how to improve global governance on migration and displacement, they should specifically address the impacts of climate change on migration and … Read More.
On October 17-20, the Stockholm Convention’s Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee will meet in Rome, Italy. Among other priorities, the Committee will discuss PFOA — a toxic chemical that has been found in the bodies and bloodstreams of people all over the world. CIEL and other NGOs highlighted conflicts of interest that undermine the recommendations … Read More.
Negotiators from Canada, Mexico, and the United States met behind closed doors for the third round of NAFTA renegotiations in late September, leaving the general public in the dark about how issues were discussed and without any opportunity to provide input. The first three rounds of negotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) … Read More.
The last meeting of the Board of the Green Climate Fund was markedly less transparent and raised yet more barriers to civil society participation. As the Board prepares to meet in Cairo for its 18th Board Meeting (B.18) tomorrow, Board members should reevaluate their actions toward their civil society colleagues and recommit to upholding public participation … Read More.
September has offered a sobering glimpse of the growing frequency and intensity of extreme weather patterns and their horrifying impacts. Record breaking heat, storms, and floods are being described with a growing collection of superlatives: hottest, wettest, most, and worst. As research scientist Katharine Hayhoe explains, as the world warms, more rapid evaporation increases the … Read More.
This month, governments and civil society from Europe and Central Asia will gather in Montenegro to consider the state of environmental democracy across the region. From the assassination of Berta Caceres in Honduras to judicial attacks against environmental NGOs in the US or growing restrictions on the freedoms of NGOs in the EU, recent developments … Read More.
Today, negotiators from the United States, Mexico, and Canada completed the second round of NAFTA negotiations in Mexico City. Despite calls from across the continent for a NAFTA that is better for the environment, workers, and public health, negotiators seem intent on keeping one of its worst provisions: investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS). Sign the petition … Read More.
A few weeks ago, California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones fired back against a group of twelve oil and coal states that have threatened legal action over the Climate Risk Carbon Initiative. Now, fourteen environmental organizations are standing together to protect the same initiative from legislative assaults launched against it from within the state. Senate Bill 488, … Read More.
On August 7, 2017 two shareholders of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) filed suit in the Federal Court of Australia alleging that by failing to include a discussion about climate risk in the Bank’s 2016 Annual Report to Shareholders, the Bank had not given “a true and fair view of the financial position and … Read More.
The Saudi government, in an effort to modernize and diversify the economy of Saudi Arabia, is planning to bring Saudi Aramco – an oil company with exclusive rights to Saudi Arabia’s vast oil and gas reserves – public with an IPO. This decision has raised eyebrows, as most observers expect that Aramco’s IPO, even with … Read More.