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aporte oficial que Amigos de la Tierra Internacional (ATI) presentará a la segunda sesión del grupo de trabajo intergubernamental de composición abierta sobre las empresas transnacionales y otras empresas de negocios con respecto a los derechos humanos (IGWG)
Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) argues for a legally binding UN Treaty that establishes civil and criminal liability for transnational corporations (TNCs) and their executives. The submission emphasizes the need for a World Court on TNCs and Human Rights to overcome national judicial weaknesses and the 'pattern of impunity' enjoyed by corporations. FoEI specifically calls for the primacy of human rights over investment treaties, the elimination of Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanisms that undermine public health and environmental policies, and the protection of the treaty negotiation process from corporate lobbying. The document supports these claims with case studies of corporate abuses in Nigeria, Brazil, Indonesia, and other regions.
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Document type: Statement
official contribution of Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) to the second session of the open-ended intergovernmental working group on Transnational Corporations (TNCs) and other business enterprises with respect to Human Rights (IGWG)
Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) advocates for a binding UN Treaty to end corporate impunity. The proposal emphasizes the need for direct legal obligations for transnational corporations (TNCs) and their executives, the creation of a World Court on TNCs and Human Rights, and the primacy of human rights over investment treaties. FoEI highlights systemic failures in national courts and the harmful impact of Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanisms, calling for a process free from corporate lobbying that prioritizes the rights of affected communities and environmental defenders.
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Document type: Statement
Addressing the cultural gap between humanitarian assistance and local responses to risk through a place-based approach
The briefing argues that cultural differences between international disaster risk reduction (DRR) actors and local communities can increase social vulnerability. It highlights a clash between the 'expert'-driven, scientific culture of aid organizations and the culturally embedded, place-specific risk perceptions of local populations. To resolve this, the authors advocate for 'place-based research' that explores emotional attachments and social memories linked to specific biophysical locations, allowing for the co-creation of risk reduction strategies aligned with local sociocultural priorities.
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Document type: Briefing
Codex Planetarius
The author argues that current voluntary certification programs and fragmented national laws are insufficient to protect planetary health because the most significant environmental impacts are caused by the bottom 25% of producers. Drawing a parallel to the Codex Alimentarius, which standardized food safety for consumers, the proposed Codex Planetarius would create a mandatory 'umbrella' standard for environmental performance. This system would focus on 6-8 key impact areas—including biodiversity loss, GHG emissions, and soil health—to ensure the sustainable management of renewable resources. The document suggests that such a system could be integrated into global trade via WTO Art XX GATT Exemptions and outlines a four-phase implementation plan spanning approximately ten years.
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Document type: Research paper
Southern African Development Community Health Policy: Under Construction
The document argues that regional health policy in Southern Africa is 'under construction' and requires updated frameworks to address gaps in the SADC Regional Indicative Strategic Plan (RISDP). It proposes five key areas for innovation: strengthening cross-border health initiatives for HIV/AIDS and malaria, renewing the expired SADC Pharmaceutical Business Plan to combat medicine stockouts, increasing civil society engagement for public accountability, developing regional health diplomacy through South-South cooperation and diplomat training, and transitioning from disease-specific 'vertical' healthcare to 'integrated' systems that combine vertical and horizontal approaches.
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Document type: Policy brief
Can we prosper without growth? 10 policy proposals
The document outlines ten policy proposals from Research & Degrowth in Barcelona aimed at breaking the 'spell of growth' and providing a cooperative economic model for radical Left and Green parties. These proposals include a citizen debt audit, work-sharing with a 32-hour week, a basic income of 400-600 Euros, and a green tax reform shifting taxation from work to energy and resource use. It advocates for ending subsidies for polluting activities, supporting the non-profit cooperative sector, optimizing existing building use, restricting advertising, establishing absolute caps on CO2 and material resources, and replacing GDP with prosperity indicators. The authors argue these complementary measures decouple social security from economic growth and shift the focus toward the commons and shared infrastructure.
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Document type: Statement
Bringing Europe Closer to the People
The authors argue that the EU faces a democracy crisis characterized by citizen mistrust and a perceived lack of representation. To counter this, they suggest that Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) should engage more actively in online debates and that the European Parliament should become a primary forum for transnational public debate on issues like climate change and data protection. The paper emphasizes the need to integrate European and national politics, suggesting that national parliaments—particularly through scrutiny committees in countries like Denmark, Finland, and Germany—should play a more prominent role in explaining EU business to voters. Proposed reforms include giving national parliaments the right to suggest EU-level actions, allowing MEPs and commissioners to address national parliaments, and creating a eurozone oversight committee. Finally, the authors advocate for shifting the focus from bringing regional officials to Brussels to bringing EU engagement directly to the regions and municipalities to better reflect local concerns.
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Document type: Research paper
10 pomysłów na życie bez wzrostu
The text outlines a degrowth-based policy framework consisting of ten proposals to decouple social well-being from economic growth. These include debt audits, work-sharing, a guaranteed basic income with a maximum income cap, green tax reforms, and the replacement of GDP with quality-of-life metrics. The authors argue that these measures, implemented as a package, can create a green economy and maintain social security even in a scenario where the economy ceases to grow.
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Document type: Statement
Time to Decriminalise It
The author contends that cannabis prohibition in Germany has failed, fostering organised crime and leaving consumers and youth unprotected. The text advocates for a regulated market—specifically proposing a draft by the German Greens—that would allow limited personal possession, mandate licensed stores with strict ID checks, and redirect law enforcement savings toward drug prevention.
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Document type: Statement
SOUTH AFRICA’S INTENDED NATIONALLY DETERMINED CONTRIBUTION (INDC)
South Africa's INDC proposes a 'peak, plateau and decline' emissions trajectory, with GHG emissions expected to peak between 2020 and 2025 and decline in absolute terms after 2036. The plan integrates climate action with the National Development Plan's goal to eliminate poverty by 2030. Adaptation efforts focus on six goals, including the development of a National Adaptation Plan by 2020, while mitigation emphasizes a transition to a low-carbon economy through renewable energy and efficiency. The document emphasizes that these commitments are premised on a fair multilateral agreement and the provision of international finance, technology, and capacity-building support.
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Document type: Report
Proposals for a Treaty on Transnational Corporations (TNCs) and other business enterprises in relation to Human Rights
Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) advocates for a legally binding international treaty to replace voluntary corporate social responsibility approaches, arguing that TNCs currently operate under a 'shield of special rights and privileges'. The proposal emphasizes the need for mandatory rules that prioritize human rights over trade and investment agreements, the establishment of a World Court on TNCs and Human Rights to end corporate impunity, and the legal recognition of 'Ecocide' and the rights of 'Affected Peoples'. FoEI specifically calls for the criminal and civil liability of TNC executives and the protection of environmental defenders.
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Document type: Statement
Finance for the Paris Climate Compact
The policy brief addresses the 'predictability problem' of public climate finance, where funding is often subject to the political caprice of national budgeting processes. It proposes three plans to secure more reliable funding: 'Plan A' involves international levies on aviation and maritime emissions; 'Plan B' suggests earmarking domestic sources like financial transaction taxes or air passenger duties; and 'Plan C' proposes sub-national contributions from entities like California and Quebec. The author advocates for a 'Development Gold Standard' where governments set aside 2% of carbon instrument revenues for the most vulnerable countries, specifically targeting the under-funded Least Developed Country Fund (LDCF).
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Document type: Policy brief
STOP IMPUNITY! AND Dismantle power corporate
The Global Campaign to Dismantle Corporate Power and Stop Impunity argues for a legally binding UN treaty to end the impunity of transnational corporations (TNCs). The submission proposes that TNCs be held civilly and criminally liable for human rights and environmental violations, including through shared liability for subsidiaries and subcontractors. It calls for the recognition of the hierarchical superiority of human rights over trade and investment treaties, the codification of states' extra-territorial obligations, and the creation of international enforcement bodies, including a World Court on TNCs and Human Rights. The document also highlights the role of international financial institutions like the IMF and World Bank in facilitating corporate impunity through structural adjustment policies.
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Document type: Statement
8 propuestas para el instrumento internacional jurídicamente vinculante sobre Empresas Transnacionales (ETNs) y Derechos Humanos
The submission argues that TNCs operate with unprecedented economic and political power, often evading national laws through complex structures and benefiting from investment treaties that prioritize private profit over human rights. It proposes a binding UN treaty that establishes TNCs' obligations to respect all human rights, holds them civilly and criminally liable (including joint liability for subsidiaries and suppliers), and mandates that states regulate TNCs' extraterritorial activities. The document further calls for the legal supremacy of human rights over trade and investment agreements, the inclusion of international financial institutions like the IMF and World Bank in the treaty's scope, and the creation of a World Court on TNCs and Human Rights. Finally, it demands that TNCs be excluded from the negotiation process to prevent corporate influence from undermining the instrument's effectiveness.
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Document type: Statement
8 propositions pour le nouvel instrument international contraignant sur les Sociétés Transnationales (STN) et les Droits Humains
The document argues that transnational corporations (TNCs) currently operate with impunity due to a lack of binding international regulations and the dominance of trade and investment treaties over human rights. It proposes a new UN instrument that establishes the legal obligation of TNCs to respect all human rights, holds them civilly and criminally liable for violations (including through subsidiaries), and mandates that states regulate TNCs' extraterritorial activities. The proposal calls for the creation of an international court and a monitoring body to oversee implementation, while demanding that TNCs be excluded from the negotiation process to prevent undue influence.
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Document type: Statement
Energy Within Reach
This briefing by RMI argues that decentralized solar energy is the most viable path to providing electricity access to the 1.3 billion people currently without it, specifically in sub-Saharan Africa and India, while avoiding a projected 141-percent increase in carbon emissions by 2040 that would result from coal-fired power plants.
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Document type: Briefing
Inclusion of Consumption of Carbon Intensive Commodities in Carbon Pricing Mechanisms
The policy brief argues that current carbon pricing mechanisms, which use free allowances to prevent carbon leakage in industrial sectors, eliminate the price signal for mitigation beyond primary production efficiency. To address this, the authors propose 'Inclusion of Consumption,' where a consumption charge is levied on carbon-intensive materials (such as steel, aluminum, and clinker) based on benchmark emission values and the carbon price. This charge would apply to all domestic consumption regardless of origin, making it compatible with WTO law. The mechanism would use duty suspension arrangements to track materials through the value chain, with the charge becoming due only when the good is released for consumption. The brief notes precedents in Asia (South Korea, China, Tokyo) regarding electricity consumption and discusses potential implementation in Europe and the United States.
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Document type: Policy brief
Regional architecture for Future Earth
The document outlines a three-tier governance structure for Future Earth consisting of National Committees, Regional Committees, and Regional Centres. It defines the roles, eligibility criteria, and operational functions of these entities to ensure that regional science priorities and stakeholder needs are reflected in the global agenda. The paper identifies five initial world regions and emphasizes the need for flexibility, inclusivity, and transdisciplinary collaboration to implement solution-oriented research for sustainability.
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Document type: Policy brief
Architecture for review and follow-up of the SDGs: Options for the High-Level Political Forum
The briefing outlines a proposed three-tier review system for the SDGs consisting of inclusive national conversations, regional peer reviews, and global assessments. It emphasizes a 'bottom-up' paradigm where national reviews serve as the foundation for regional aggregation and global thematic discussions within the HLPF. The authors argue that the HLPF should orchestrate the efforts of states and UN entities, focusing on learning and policy adaptation rather than sanctions, to ensure the universal mandate of the SDGs is met.
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Document type: Briefing
SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION INDICATORS FOR THE FUTURE SDGS
The report provides a framework for measuring the transition to sustainable consumption and production (SCP) by identifying specific indicators for SDG 12 and related targets in other SDGs. It organizes these indicators into six domains: scale of resource use, decoupling, environmental impact, technology and lifestyles, financing and investing, and policy support. The document emphasizes the need for 'positive indicators' to show the return on investment in SCP and highlights significant data gaps, particularly in developing countries, while suggesting a set of headline indicators to serve as proxies for global progress.
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Document type: Research paper