CIEL STATEMENT TO THE UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

A statement delivered by Marcos Orellana of the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) to the UN Human Rights Council, urging the establishment of a special procedure to address the human rights dimensions of the environment and climate change.

• CIEL urges the UN Human Rights Council to create a special procedure to address the human rights aspects of climate change and the environment, arguing that the global environmental crisis is currently undermining the enjoyment of human rights.
• There is significant existing legal and institutional momentum for linking human rights and the environment, with over 140 State constitutions incorporating a right to the environment and all regional human rights mechanisms linking the two in their jurisprudence.
• A proposed special procedure on the environment and climate change would be tasked with clarifying human rights obligations (including extraterritorial dimensions), identifying best practices in rights-based approaches within multilateral environmental agreements, and providing guidance on the implementation of the right to a healthy environment and the outcomes of the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development.
• The statement warns against allowing narrow political interests to obstruct the Council's work, contrasting the current Council's leadership on issues like climate change, water, sanitation, and chemical management with the politicization that characterized the former Human Rights Commission.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (2012). CIEL STATEMENT TO THE UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL. https://www.ciel.org/Publications/UN_Orellana_Statement_23Mar2012.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. CIEL STATEMENT TO THE UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL. 2012. https://www.ciel.org/Publications/UN_Orellana_Statement_23Mar2012.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=CIEL STATEMENT TO THE UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL |date=1 March 2012 |url=https://www.ciel.org/Publications/UN_Orellana_Statement_23Mar2012.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centerforinternationalenvironmentallaw2012ciel, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{CIEL STATEMENT TO THE UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL}}, publisher = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2012}, month = mar, url = {https://www.ciel.org/Publications/UN_Orellana_Statement_23Mar2012.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }