The United Nations climate conference (COP28) in the United Arab Emirates takes place against a backdrop of broken records and broken promises. From off-the-charts...

The Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations system of 47 States responsible for promoting and protecting all human rights...

CIEL supports the Community Movement of Santa Cruz de la India and those impacted by Condor Gold’s mining project in Santa Cruz de La...

The threat of climate change and the global efforts to combat it are growing. Just as climate change threatens millions of lives, communities, and...

CIEL supports the Territorial Organization of Ngäbe, Buglé and Campesinos of the Northern Region of Santa Fe, the Movement for the Defense of the...

CIEL supports Movimiento Ríos Vivos Antioquía and the communities in the municipalities of Briceño, Ituango, Toledo, San Andrés de Cuerquia, Valdivia, Sabanalarga, Peque, and...

The EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) is a free trade agreement between Canada and the European Union, which provisionally came into force...

As corporate influence over public policy at every level of government grows ever greater, measures to hold corporations accountable have not kept pace. Around...

Plastics are a pollutant of unique concern, as they do not break down quickly and accumulate in the environment as more is produced. They...

Environmental democracy is critical to strengthening environmental standards, holding polluting industries accountable, and ensuring that infrastructure and other development projects are not implemented at...

CIEL supports the Citizen Coordinating Committee in Defense of the Cajón del Maipo and Chilean NGO Ecosistemas in raising concerns about the devastating environmental...

In conjunction with the ongoing global negotiations of the 4th International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM4) organized under the auspices of the United Nations...

The global pension fund industry controls trillions of dollars. In the United States alone, pension fund assets under management equal $9 trillion. These assets...

In light of the role that credit rating agencies played in the collapse of global financial markets in 2007-2009 by overestimating the value of...

A small farmers association in Colombia is suing for damages due to aerial herbicide spraying – known as “fumigation.” Under the rubric of Plan...

In 2010, nearly 200 nations agreed to limit global warming to below 2°C as a goal in addressing climate change. But the impacts of...

In 2011, the United Nations Human Rights Council unanimously endorsed the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs).  These principles have been...

Despite both local and international opposition, the Barro Blanco hydroelectric dam project on the Tabasara River in the Chiriqui Province of Panama remains a...

The United States and European Union have entered into negotiations to establish a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) – a free trade agreement...

Despite the universality of human rights, many States still interpret their human rights obligations as being applicable only within their own borders. This attempt...

REDD stands for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation. The “+” expands REDD to include conservation, sustainable forest management, and enhancement of forest...

Illegal harvest and trade of timber threatens forests and communities. Economic gains are put before human rights and the environment, but these practices are...

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the basic international legal instrument for channeling international cooperation to achieve stabilization of greenhouse...

For decades, CIEL and partners around the world have worked to make the case and build the legal foundations for holding corporations accountable for...

On February 6, 2012, CIEL released “Just Out of Reach: How REACH Is Failing to Regulate Nanomaterials and How it Can Be Fixed,” a...

While acknowledging that significant progress has been made under existing agreements, including the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM), Paths to Global Chemical...

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) was established in 1972 as a UN body to be the first voice for the environment and sustainable...

In April 2013, the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC, or CEPAL in Spanish) led negotiations toward regional approval of...

Close to half of the lending portfolio of the World Bank’s private financing arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), is in other financial institutions,...

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is a home to Afrormosia (Pericopsis elata), a rare variety of tropical tree that is valued worldwide...

In October 2012, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Working Group II on arbitration and conciliation (WG) met in Vienna to...

After years of CIEL advocacy for greater transparency at the World Trade Organization (WTO), the first-ever public viewing of WTO Appellate Body procedures took...

In 2006, the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) became the broadest global framework for the sound management of chemicals, but one which, by...

– In collaboration with the European Citizen’s Organization for Standardization and the Öko-Institut – As the pace of nanotechnology development increases, it is crucial...

El Salvador has upheld a nationally-supported mining moratorium in the interest of protecting its citizens and already stressed water sources from dangerous toxic byproducts....

At the UN climate negotiations in 2010, governments created the Green Climate Fund (GCF), a public institution to channel the billions of dollars needed...

CIEL works with the Committee for the Defense of Water and the Santurbán Páramo, a Colombian grassroots coalition, SOMO and MiningWatch Canada to protect...

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) was created under the Kyoto Protocol as a sort of international currency meant to stimulate sustainable development while simultaneously...

By leveraging new tools and research, including pioneering work by Rick Heede that traces the bulk of industrial greenhouse emissions since 1850 to a...

We live in a climate emergency.  Extreme weather events—fires, heatwaves,  floods, hurricanes— and other climate impacts, such as sea level rise and desertification, are...