The European Court of Human Rights heard the much-awaited climate case of Duarte Agostinho et al. v Portugal and 32 Others. The outcome of this case will be decisive for the future of climate action.
The Committee on the Rights of the Child published its general comment n°26 on children’s rights and the environment, with a special focus on climate change. In its comment, it confirms that children have a right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.
The Secretariat of the intergovernmental negotiating committee tasked with elaborating a treaty on plastic pollution has issued an invitation to provide written submissions on elements not discussed at the last session of negotiations, INC-2. The GPC has sent its written submission.
The Secretariat of the Montevideo Environmental Law Programme is currently working on a partnerships and stakeholder engagement strategy. The Secretariat invited all interested stakeholders and partners of the Programme to comment on the annotated outline of the strategy. The Global Pact Coalition has sent its commentary.
The Global Coalition of Civil Society, Indigenous Peoples, Social Movements, and Local Communities for the Universal Recognition of the Right to a Clean, Healthy, and Sustainable Environment wins the UN 2023 Human Rights Award. The Coalition is recognized for its critical role in advocating for the recognition of the right to a healthy environment by the UN General Assembly in 2022.
The United Nations is currently developing a legally binding treaty on plastic pollution. A zero draft of the agreement is being prepared ahead of the next session of negotiations which will take place in Nairobi, in November.
The Committee on the rights of the child, monitors implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by UN States parties. It is currently drafting a general comment on children’s rights and the environment with a special focus on climate change. The Committee invited all interested stakeholders to comment on its draft general comment. The Global Pact Coalition submitted a comment.
The fourth Summit of the Council of Europe is an important opportunity to strengthen European rights. While this summit is taking place in reaction to the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, other topics will be discussed, such as strengthening pan-European cooperation or combating violence against women. The upcoming hearings before the ECtHR on the obligations of Member States regarding CO2 emissions and global warming illustrate the importance of putting the right to a healthy environment on the agenda of this Summit.
After almost years of talks, UN Member States have finally reached a historic deal to protect international waters. Almost 2/3 of the world’s ocean lies outside national boundaries & only 1.2% is protected. This deal is decisive in enforcing the 30×30 pledge.
Vanuatu and 14 other States published the final draft of the UNGA resolution to request an International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on the human rights obligations of States in the context of climate change. They are calling Member States to co-sponsor the resolution before its vote in a plenary session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). 105 UN member states are already co-sponsoring the resolution prior to its vote in the UN General Assembly plenary session.
