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This briefing by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) and the Global Initiative for Economic, Social & Cultural Rights (GIESCR) reviews the 2023 activities of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) regarding climate change. It details the CRC's use of State review procedures to hold governments accountable for children's rights in the face of climate crises and analyzes the Committee's General Comment No. 26 (2023), which establishes the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment as implicit in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

This report by the Center for International Environmental Law analyzes a leaked draft of the investment chapter of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). The analysis concludes that the draft largely mirrors or expands upon the investor-state protections found in NAFTA Chapter 11, which the authors argue undermines democratic governance, environmental protection, and national sovereignty by granting corporations the power to challenge domestic laws in international tribunals.

This research paper examines the intersection of international environmental law and foreign direct investment (FDI), analyzing how emerging legal principles, multilateral treaties, and public financing standards influence private capital flows. It highlights the tension between global economic expansion and sustainable development, specifically addressing the risks of 'pollution havens' and the increasing trend of transnational environmental litigation against multinational corporations in their home country courts.

This executive summary by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) argues that stricter regulations on hazardous chemicals stimulate innovation and the commercialization of safer alternatives. While noting the risk of 'regrettable substitution,' the document provides six policy recommendations to ensure that chemical innovation leads to a healthier market.

This briefing by the Center for International Environmental Law examines how modern investment treaties and investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanisms can undermine environmental regulations and public health protections by allowing foreign investors to sue host states for 'indirect expropriation'.

This research paper by the Center for International Environmental Law analyzes the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) chapter of the draft Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) agreement. The author argues that the draft represents a 'TRIPS-plus' approach that increases protection levels beyond the WTO's TRIPS Agreement, thereby reducing the regulatory flexibility of developing countries to address public health, food security, and sustainable development.

This research paper by the Center for International Environmental Law and the International Rivers Network analyzes the establishment of the World Bank's Inspection Panel on September 21, 1993. The authors evaluate whether this new mechanism for citizens and NGOs to request investigations into Bank-funded projects truly increases accountability, highlighting concerns regarding the panel's independence from Bank leadership and its lack of public transparency.

This research paper critiques a utilitarian (Millsian) approach to the intersection of international trade and environmental protection, arguing instead for a Kantian framework. The author contends that environmental imperatives—such as species preservation—are categorical duties that should not be balanced against economic benefits. The paper proposes a model of "competitive sustainability" to harmonize environmental standards upward through market incentives and trade rule reforms.

This briefing by the Center for International Environmental Law critiques the February 2023 draft Approach to Remedial Action and Responsible Exit Principles released by the IFC and MIGA. The document argues that these drafts fail to guarantee remedy for communities harmed by projects and do not meet international human rights law standards.

This report by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) argues that the investment provisions of the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (Korea FTA) grant foreign investors substantive rights exceeding those of U.S. investors, thereby violating the Trade Act of 2002. The author contends that new tests for indirect expropriation and the expansion of arbitral jurisdiction over contract rights threaten the ability of governments to regulate for public health, safety, and the environment.

This report by the Center for International Environmental Law analyzes the European Commission's October 2020 "Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability." It evaluates the strategy's potential to create a "toxic-free environment" and provides recommendations for the EU to lead global chemical management by strengthening international standards and eliminating the "double standard" of exporting hazardous substances banned within the EU.

This report by the Center for International Environmental Law analyzes the European Commission's October 2020 "Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability." It evaluates the strategy's potential to create a toxic-free environment and provides specific recommendations for the EU to lead global chemical management by strengthening international standards, eliminating double standards in exports, and implementing rigorous internal safety frameworks.

This report by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) analyzes a proposal by pesticide industry lobby groups CropLife America and the European Crop Protection Association (ECPA) regarding the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). CIEL argues that the industry is using 'regulatory cooperation' as a mechanism to compel the European Union to lower its health and environmental standards to match the weaker standards of the United States, effectively creating a 'regulatory ceiling' that would hinder global pesticide regulation.

This legal opinion by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) argues that the European Union's Ship Recycling Regulation (SRR) is illegal under international and EU law. CIEL contends that the SRR creates an unlawful exemption for EU-flagged ships from the Basel Convention's prohibitions on exporting hazardous waste to developing countries, particularly following the entry into force of the Basel Ban Amendment on December 5, 2019.

This legal briefing by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) argues that the export of pesticides banned or not approved in their countries of origin—specifically from Europe to Africa and Central America—violates international law, including the Basel Convention, the Bamako Convention, and the Central American Agreement, as well as international human rights obligations.

This report by the Center for International Environmental Law argues that offshore oil and gas activities—including exploration, production, transport, and decommissioning—pose severe threats to marine ecosystems, human rights, and the global climate. It calls for oceans everywhere to be made off-limits to these activities to address the triple planetary crises of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss.

This briefing, based on a joint WWF-CIEL paper, examines the relationship between Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). It argues that current WTO negotiations focus on areas requiring the least clarification and proposes several practical measures to enhance compatibility between trade and environmental governance, while urging non-trade policymakers to ensure that trade rules do not undermine the jurisdiction or objectives of MEAs.

This research paper by Donald M. Goldberg of the Center for International Environmental Law argues that the Montreal Protocol Multilateral Fund (MPMF) provides a superior governance and administrative model for the financial mechanism of the Framework Convention on Climate Change compared to the Global Environment Facility (GEF). The author contends that the MPMF's structure ensures more equitable representation, transparency, and party-led project approval, whereas the GEF is overly dependent on World Bank management.

This research paper examines the conceptual and legal intersections between international human rights law and international environmental law, focusing on the Inter-American System of Human Rights. The author argues that while the two regimes historically differed in approach—human rights being anthropocentric and environmental law oscillating between anthropocentric and biocentric—they are increasingly integrated. The document analyzes how human rights tools, such as precautionary measures and state responsibility for the acts of third parties, are used to protect environmental rights and reviews regional jurisprudence from the Inter-American, African, and European systems to illustrate the environmental dimensions of the rights to life, property, and information.

A joint statement from environmental, worker, and consumer organisations expressing disappointment and concern regarding the European Commission's Second Regulatory Review on Nanomaterials published on 3 October 2012. The signatories argue that the Commission's approach is inconsistent with its own analysis, ignores scientific evidence of nanomaterial toxicity, and fails to implement a precautionary approach to protect human health and the environment.