Just three months ahead of COP28, the Transitional Committee meets for a 3rd time in the Dominican Republic to discuss the Loss and Damage Fund. It’s time to make concrete progress.
States met for the first meeting on the Loss and Damage Fund in Egypt. We explore emerging trends and challenges ahead.
Last month, the Board of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) met in Barbados for its 8th session. What’s the GCF? It’s a financial institution that is expected to channel billions of dollars to developing countries to help them in their efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change. (Check out some of our blogs for … Read More.
Dearest Friends, Colleagues, It is hard to believe that a year has passed since we formed the Tri-Caucus to improve coordination between those who focus specifically on rights related to REDD+. As we finalize last-minute logistics for the upcoming UN climate negotiations – the Conference of the Parties (COP 20) in Lima, Peru – I … Read More.
In the world of UN climate negotiations, in which 194 official parties, as well as hundreds of observers and representatives from civil society and indigenous groups, have different and complex agendas and priorities, meaningful progress to reduce emissions is a challenging feat. Ensuring that progress respects human rights and environmental integrity is even more so. … Read More.
Colombia’s thirty-four páramos are unique, high-altitude wetland ecosystems that serve as vital sources of freshwater for nearby inhabitants’ survival. To those who don’t directly rely on a healthy páramo ecosystem for life, however, these highlands have a different draw: precious metals buried deep beneath the surface. Therein lies the problem. In 1994, Greystar Resources Limited, … Read More.
Last week, CIEL submitted a letter to an expert group that is tasked with evaluating whether Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the Government Pension Fund Global, should divest from companies engaged in the fossil fuel industry. At the end of November, the expert group will present its divestment recommendations. If Norway decides to divest, it will … Read More.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Climate Summit on September 23, 2014 is expected to “serve as a public platform for leaders at the highest level – all UN Member States, as well as finance, business, civil society and local leaders from public and private sectors – to catalyze ambitious action on the ground to reduce emissions and strengthen … Read More.
The United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) has decided to begin drafting an international treaty to hold transnational corporations accountable for human rights abuses. On June 26, 2014, the HRC voted in favor of a resolution to establish an intergovernmental working group that would create an instrument for regulating transnational corporations with regard to human … Read More.
A new amicus brief supports human rights and environmental protection in El Salvador’s battle to uphold environmental laws against Pac Rim Mining Corporation’s lawsuit. On July 25, CIEL co-hosted a brownbag lunch discussion featuring Teodoro Antonio Pacheco, a Salvadoran environmental activist who is speaking out against the Pac Rim Mining Corporation’s (Pac Rim) most recent … Read More.
How can policymakers adequately regulate nanomaterials if they don’t know what’s out here to regulate? This post is the second in a series of updates on the contentious technological development known as nanomaterials. At the heart of nanotechnology regulation is a need for information. Information is the key to developing appropriate regulatory tools to protect … Read More.
As we near the 800th birthday of the Magna Carta—and CIEL’s 25th—how does Magna Carta influence the realm of international environmental law today? CIEL welcomed President Emeritus and Distinguished Scholar Dan Magraw as the second speaker in its 25th Anniversary Discussion Series Defending the Planet in the 21st Century. Currently a professorial lecturer and fellow … Read More.
On May 23, 2014, a small delegation representing 80 human rights, environmental, indigenous, and faith-based organizations delivered a joint statement to the Peruvian Embassy in Washington, DC, calling for protection and justice for the people in Cajamarca, Peru, who are working to defend their land and their rights. The statement expresses concern for the violent … Read More.
Tahoe Resource Inc.’s Escobal silver mine in the municipality of San Rafael Las Flores, southeastern Guatemala, is the subject of local opposition and ongoing legal processes. Community leaders have faced repression, criminalization, and violence for their efforts to promote consultation processes with local residents. Despite the conflict, Tahoe put the mine into operation even before … Read More.
As the World Bank evaluates its environmental and social safeguards, many civil society organizations from across the globe have criticized existing standards and provided recommendations to ensure human rights are respected in development finance. On April 9th of this year, five human rights advocates testified to this effect at the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission … Read More.
It’s a truism in environmentalism that the farther you are from the impact of your action, the less you know and, for the most part, the less you care. That’s just what the International Finance Corporation (IFC)—the private sector lending arm of the World Bank—has done through its investments in so-called financial intermediaries (FIs). A … Read More.
As we arrive in La Puya, an enormous banner spans the breadth of the roadway: “The extraction of our natural resources only means progress for the foreigners. NO TO MINING.” Past the banner at the entrance to the “El Tambor” project, owned by U.S.-based Kappes, Cassidy and Associates, more than 50 people are gathered in … Read More.
By Alyssa Johl and John Crump* This week, community leaders from two small villages in very different parts of the world will meet on Bougainville Island in Papua New Guinea (PNG) to discuss a common problem: their need to relocate as a result of climate change. The communities of Newtok, Alaska, and the Carteret Islands, … Read More.
By Marcos Orellana, Rio de Janeiro, 22 June 2012. On June 20, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) officially started in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Conference opened with a documentary, Welcome to the Anthropocene, which was introduced by the UN’s Secretary-General. The documentary visually portrays the alteration in Earth’s natural cycles induced … Read More.
By Amanda Rude, former CIEL legal intern As several CIEL attorneys and alumni head south to participate in the much-anticipated Rio+20 Conference, I wanted to share some of my insights as the “greenest” (i.e. youngest) member of the CIEL delegation…
CIEL and Earthjustice, working closely with Maldives, Costa Rica and Switzerland, obtained from the UN Human Rights Council a resolution on Human Rights & Environment that establishes an Independent Expert on Human Rights and the Environment.
By Kristen Hite Director, Climate Change Program In recent years we’ve seen global predictions on climate change becoming increasingly dire. In recent weeks it’s gone from bad to worse: The International Energy Association, often criticized for how its future projections of energy production rely too heavily on fossil fuels and nuclear energy just issued a … Read More.
My very first COP experience, the 10th Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention in Cartagena, Colombia, was hailed by delegates, observers, and the UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner as the most successful Basel COP in the history of the Basel Convention. I was fortunate to have joined CIEL’s delegation that participated in such … Read More.
The Tenth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention (COP10) will be held in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia from October 17-21, 2011. Adopted in 1989, the Basel Convention now boasts 178 State Parties. The overall objective of the treaty is to protect human health and the environment from the adverse effects … Read More.
What does the new blockbuster hit Cowboys and Aliens (starring Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig) have in common with the Marlin Mine in Guatemala? Or rather, what do cowboys, aliens and Goldcorp all have in common? An unquenchable thirst for gold. My most recent trip to the box office promised action, aliens, and Harrison Ford. … Read More.
After six days and 322 arrests (and counting), the Tar Sands Action is in full effect. This two-week long protest is being staged on the sidewalk in front of the White House in Washington, DC, plainly visible to government employees, diplomats and tourists alike. Concerned citizens have travelled from all 50 states and Canada to … Read More.
The global food system is broken. Worldwide, 925 million are undernourished. The Asia-Pacific region ranks highest in terms of number of people that are hungry and sub-Saharan Africa leads on a percentage basis. In Niger, for example, one in two children suffers from malnutrition and one in six dies before the age of five. In … Read More.
We’re off to Vancouver! As I type this post at 30,000ft flying over Ontario, we are in crunch time preparing for Goldcorp’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Vancouver, BC this Wednesday, May 18th! CIEL is a member of the International Coalition Against Unjust Mining in Guatemala (CAMIGUA), which works to defend the rights of the … Read More.
Today, CIEL, along with Amnesty International, Bretton Woods Project, and International Accountability Project, submitted a letter to the Vice President and CEO of the IFC, Lars Thunell, urging the IFC to respect and protect human rights. What is the IFC? The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector lending arm of the World Bank, lends … Read More.
As the muted colors of the Guatemalan altiplano blurred by the tinted windows of the van, something in the valley caught my eye: an enormous, nearly glowing chartreuse-colored body of water. Closer inspection revealed this unnatural color emanated from the residual waters in the tailings pond of Goldcorp Inc.’s Marlin Mine in San Marcos, Guatemala. … Read More.