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The report analyzes the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm Conventions, alongside the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM), concluding that these instruments are unlikely to fully protect human health and the environment due to structural shortcomings and insufficient political will. It identifies five core challenges: implementation capacity, sustainable finance, information gaps, narrow scope, and 'treaty fatigue.' To address these, the authors propose two paths: enhancing existing agreements (particularly SAICM) or establishing a new, legally binding Global Chemicals Convention (GCC) that would integrate existing treaties as protocols and mandate the internalization of environmental costs by the chemical industry.

The document outlines the typology of international legal instruments, distinguishing between treaties, conventions, and agreements, and examines the structures of Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs). It specifically addresses the need for a new global instrument to tackle the plastics crisis, suggesting a 'start-and-strengthen' approach and highlighting the importance of a clear mandate and flexible institutional structures.

The report examines the ZEDE law in Honduras, which creates autonomous zones with their own judicial and administrative systems. It argues that these zones undermine democratic governance, threaten indigenous land rights, and lack transparency. The author contends that IDB funding for ZEDEs would violate the bank's own operational policies regarding indigenous peoples, environmental governance, and access to information.

The analysis finds that the NAPCP provides a more robust legal framework for meeting emission reduction commitments than the EIP, offering higher transparency, stricter review mechanisms, and mandatory public consultation.

The document argues that clause 37(8) of the Environment Bill would severely undermine the efficacy of the environmental review process by imposing a mandatory restriction on the High Court's ability to grant remedies, even in cases of serious environmental law breaches.

The paper examines the history and current state of EU environmental governance, detailing the roles of the Commission, Parliament, Council, and Court of Justice. It highlights a systemic failure in the enforcement of environmental law by Member States and the Commission, noting that economic interests frequently override environmental concerns. The author argues that the EU's 'good governance' principles of openness and participation are poorly implemented, leaving environmental NGOs with limited influence and citizens with minimal access to justice. While the EU has a comprehensive body of legislation, the author concludes that the lack of political will makes much of it a 'paper tiger'.

Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius outlines the European Union's commitment to transparency and civil society engagement in fisheries negotiations with the UK, specifically through the use of domestic advisory groups and a Civil Society Forum established under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA).

The report by ClientEarth and Global Witness advocates for a comprehensive EU-wide mandatory due diligence framework to replace failing voluntary corporate commitments. It highlights the EU's role in driving global deforestation and human rights abuses, particularly in the agricultural sector. The authors propose a system based on OECD Guidelines that covers all EU-based companies and investors, regardless of size, and includes strict transparency requirements, a robust penalty regime, and access to justice for affected parties outside the EU.

The document provides a comprehensive overview of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), describing it as a strategic framework for Chinese foreign investment and global influence. It highlights a systemic lack of environmental and social safeguards, the dominance of Chinese state-owned enterprises, and the tendency of BRI financing to favor fossil fuel projects over renewables. The briefing also details the 'debt trap' risks for recipient nations and the efforts of civil society organizations to advocate for a 'Green BRI' and greater corporate accountability.

The fact sheet advocates for a binding UN Human Rights Treaty to close the gap in international law where corporations escape accountability for cross-border activities. It contrasts the strong legal protections afforded to corporate rights via free trade agreements and investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) with the lack of legal recourse for victims of corporate abuse. The document provides examples of corporate misconduct in El Salvador, Nigeria, Colombia, and Indonesia, highlighting issues such as water pollution, gas flaring, land-grabbing, and deforestation, while arguing that voluntary corporate responsibility codes are insufficient.

The report examines the relationship between natural capital and human prosperity, arguing that current economic systems fail to accurately measure, value, and manage nature. It highlights that while human wealth has increased, renewable natural capital is being depleted due to a lack of appropriate price signals and a flawed assumption that nature is easily substitutable by man-made capital. The authors propose integrating natural capital into comprehensive national wealth accounts and using the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a framework for protecting critical natural capital. Key recommendations include establishing Natural Capital Committees, using non-market valuation techniques, and supporting R&D for technologies that reduce pressure on nature.

The document provides a framework for member countries to identify and nominate candidates for the IAI's Science Policy Advisory Committee (SPAC). It details specific selection criteria focusing on science policy expertise, experience with global and climate change, and international collaboration skills, particularly within the Americas. The process includes a call for applications, evaluation based on weighted criteria, and elections held during the IAI's Conference of the Parties (CoP) meeting.

The project investigates governance modalities that incorporate local and traditional knowledge to improve biodiversity conservation. Using a 'decentralizing academia' approach, the team established Communities of Practice Collaborators (CCP) to foster co-learning between academics, farmers, and local knowledge keepers. The research identifies plurality, power asymmetries, and conflict as key facilitators or barriers to conservation and is producing a collaborative book featuring local voices from Colombia, Chile, and Uruguay.

The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and IUCN propose the Standing Conference on Trade and Environment (SCTE) to bridge the gap between trade liberalization and sustainable development. The proposal argues that neither trade organizations like the WTO nor existing environmental bodies have successfully articulated a coherent environmental agenda for trade. The SCTE is envisioned as a non-permanent, 'light structure' gathering governments, international organizations, and civil society to formulate realistic policy recommendations. It aims to prevent the environmental community from undermining the WTO by creating a formal channel for environmental priorities, specifically addressing the needs of developing countries and the management of environmental risks in international trade.

The document explores the intersection of environmental law and climate change in Africa, arguing that legal mechanisms are essential for enforcing policy decisions and managing the continent's vulnerability to climate sensitivity. It highlights how existing developmental challenges, such as poverty and institutional weaknesses, aggravate this vulnerability and proposes multi-disciplinary approaches to mitigation and adaptation.

The preface introduces a collaborative research project between the African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS) and the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) aimed at understanding the links between natural resources, land tenure, and conflict in Africa. It acknowledges the contributions of various researchers, peer reviewers, and informants, specifically noting fieldwork conducted in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Angola. The work was supported by the United States Agency for International Development’s Regional Economic Development and Services Office for Eastern and Southern Africa (REDSO/ESA) and incorporates findings from a December 2004 conference on Land Tenure and Conflict in Africa.

The document examines the evolution of environmental security, critiquing 'statist' models that view environmental scarcity primarily as a threat to the state. It proposes a 'human security' framework, specifically applying a Sustainable Livelihoods approach to understand how land access and tenure systems in Africa influence poverty and conflict. The author highlights that in southern Africa, colonial legacies of land dispossession and current 'opportunistic land grabbing' by elites exacerbate insecurity. The paper concludes that sustainable security requires moving beyond technical fixes to address the underlying power imbalances, governance failures, and social injustices that drive environmental and human insecurity.

The Kukula Traditional Health Practitioners Association, comprising over 350 healers in South Africa's Bushbuckridge area, has established this protocol to protect their traditional knowledge and ensure the sustainable use of medicinal plants. The association highlights threats to their livelihoods, including biodiversity loss, lack of benefit-sharing from researchers, and discrimination. They advocate for secured access to medicinal plants in communal and protected areas, calling for partnerships with conservation agencies like SANParks. The protocol mandates that any access to their knowledge or biological resources by researchers or commercial bioprospectors must be approved by their Executive Committee through a process of prior informed consent, community deliberation, and ancestral consultation, adhering to both customary and South African domestic law.

The document outlines a multi-step process for creating biocultural community protocols, starting with an assessment of appropriateness and moving through the 'mapping' of community identity, natural foundations, sociocultural aspects, economic principles, and political and legal frameworks. It emphasizes community-led decision-making, the protection of sensitive traditional knowledge, and the strategic consolidation of findings into a format that communicates clear messages to external decision-makers to achieve legal and political goals.

The briefing argues that a human rights-based approach is an essential condition for stopping biodiversity loss in an equitable manner. It recommends that the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) explicitly reference international human rights instruments, adopt a formal definition of 'human rights-based approach', and establish review mechanisms to monitor compliance. Key priorities include securing the land tenure rights of indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs), ensuring equitable governance in area-based measures, and protecting human environmental rights defenders.