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ONE SPECIES, ONE PLANET
The report examines the symbiotic relationship between sustainable development and environmental justice, asserting that the former cannot be attained without the latter. It identifies three key legal nexuses: the right to a healthy environment, community-based property rights (CBPRs), and procedural rights to participation. The text highlights systemic failures where vulnerable populations, particularly in the Global South and minority communities in the US, bear disproportionate environmental burdens. It recommends shifting from market-based to rights-based approaches, strengthening corporate accountability, and ensuring the meaningful participation of indigenous and local communities in decision-making processes.
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Document type: Report
Arms Control, South African Style
The document analyzes the transition of South Africa's arms control from the secretive apartheid era to a democratic framework. It details the establishment of the NCACC in 1995 following the 'Wazan debacle' and the subsequent struggle to enact the National Conventional Arms Control Bill. The author highlights a tension between the government's stated commitment to human rights and transparency and its actual practices, including arms sales to controversial regimes and executive resistance to parliamentary oversight.
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Document type: Research paper
Statement on investment for the September 2002 WTO Investment Meeting
The document argues that the WTO is the wrong forum for a multilateral investment framework because its focus on trade liberalization and non-discrimination would likely restrict domestic policies essential for economic growth, human rights, and environmental protection. The authors contend that the Working Group on the Relationship between Trade and Investment (WGTI) has failed to integrate sustainable development into its processes and that any move toward an investment agreement would contradict the goals of the Doha Development Agenda. They highlight risks such as the 'chilling effect' of investment litigation and the resource imbalances that hinder developing countries in WTO dispute settlements. The statement calls for WTO Members to refrain from discussing negotiation modalities until a transparent analysis proves such an agreement would benefit developing countries and sustainable development.
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Document type: Statement
Preliminary Comments on the Chairman’s Paper entitled Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development dated 8 May 2002 Fourth Session of the Preparatory Committee for the World Summit on Sustainable Development
The document argues that the proposed institutional framework for sustainable development must better integrate human rights, reform international economic governance, and establish robust monitoring mechanisms for 'type 2' partnerships. CIEL suggests upgrading the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) to a specialized agency and creating a unified framework for the secretariats of major environmental conventions to improve policy coordination. The statement emphasizes the need for integrated assessments of the impacts of trade liberalization and structural adjustment programs on sustainable development at global, regional, national, and local levels.
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Document type: Statement
Preliminary Comments on the Chairman’s Paper dated 9 May 2002 Fourth Session of the Preparatory Committee for the World Summit on Sustainable Development
CIEL argues that the draft Chairman's paper lacks essential references to human rights and community-based property rights, and fails to adequately regulate biotechnology and intellectual property. The organization proposes specific targets for renewable energy portfolios for export credit agencies and multilateral development banks, and calls for binding international guidelines to mitigate the social and environmental impacts of infrastructure projects funded by export credit agencies.
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Document type: Statement
Suggested Amendments to the Chairman’s Paper dated 12 February 2002 Second Session of the Preparatory Committee for the World Summit on Sustainable Development A/Conf.199/PC/L.11
The Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) argues that the Chairman's Paper overemphasizes economic growth and national governance while neglecting international responsibility and the environmental and social pillars of sustainable development. CIEL proposes amendments to integrate human rights, public health, and environmental protections into the summit's framework, specifically calling for binding corporate accountability, the protection of community-based property rights, and a more balanced approach to intellectual property and trade liberalization.
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Document type: Report
Petitioning for Adverse Impacts of Global Warming in the Inter-American Human Rights System
This research paper explores the potential for bringing human rights complaints against the United States due to the adverse impacts of global warming, particularly focusing on the threats to the fundamental rights of indigenous inhabitants of the Arctic.
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Document type: Research paper
hacia la eliminación progresiva del financiamiento de instituciones financieras internacionales para los proyectos de minería y combustibles fósiles en favor de la autodeterminación de las comunidades locales
The document calls for a five-year phase-out of all IFI funding for mining and fossil fuel projects, including a prompt moratorium on new projects in ecologically sensitive areas, indigenous territories, and conflict zones. It argues that such investments exacerbate poverty, human rights abuses, and climate change while failing to provide guaranteed economic growth. The author proposes shifting IFI portfolios toward decentralized renewable energy and energy efficiency to support poor communities and mitigate global warming.
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Document type: Statement
Open letter to the President of the World Bank concerning the International Advisory Group
Civil society representatives from Chad and Cameroon argue that the International Advisory Group (IAG) lacks a mandate to address human rights violations, lacks true independence from the World Bank and national governments, and fails to hold oil companies accountable for environmental and social damages.
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Document type: Statement
PEACE AND SECURITY IN AFRICA
The document examines the motivations and activities of US government agencies and private organisations in promoting stability in Africa. It argues that while the US has a profound humanitarian impulse and a stated interest in regional stability, its policy is primarily reactive and lacks a coherent, long-term strategy. The report details the roles of the Department of State, Department of Defense, and USAID, alongside the influence of the US Congress and various NGOs. Key initiatives of the Clinton era are analysed, including the African Crisis Response Initiative (ACRI) and the African Growth and Opportunity Act, while providing strategic advice to African leaders on how to effectively engage with the fragmented US policy apparatus.
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Document type: Report
Unde Venis et Quo Vadis?
The research paper examines the failure to operationalize the SADC Organ for Politics, Defence and Security, noting a deadlock between member states over its legal and operational structure. It critiques a 1997 Review and Rationalisation Report for ignoring the security-development nexus and suggests that SADC's economic focus is incompatible with the sensitivities of defence co-operation. By comparing SADC to regional arrangements like L'ANAD in West Africa, ASEAN in Southeast Asia, and the OSCE and WEU in Europe, the author argues that Southern Africa should 'divorce' its security mechanism from SADC to create a dedicated, flexible security convention or union focused on conflict prevention and democratic stability.
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Document type: Research paper
HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE ENVIRONMENT SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
The document is a curated bibliography compiled by David Downes for the Center for International Environmental Law in 1992. It lists legal precedents, international directives, and scholarly articles that explore the relationship between human rights and the environment, with a particular focus on indigenous peoples' rights, the role of international development banks, and the emerging concept of a right to a healthy environment.
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Document type: Fact sheet
escalating-20debt-20burden-20in-20africa-20and-20its-20human-20rights-20implications-aafc74d78102e85a.pdf
The document examines how rising debt burdens in Africa lead to austerity measures that compromise basic human rights, such as health and education. It highlights the success of previous debt relief initiatives like HIPC and MDRI while calling for a human rights-based approach to current debt management and the revamping of the G20 Common Framework.
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Document type: Research paper
The Legal Foundations Of The African Public Debt
The document examines how African public debt is rooted in colonial constructs and enforced through contract law, often perpetuating economic dependency. It analyzes the legal architecture at national and international levels, the various debt instruments used, and the systemic failures in transparency and accountability that lead to debt crises. The paper advocates for constitutional reforms, independent debt management offices, and a multilateral sovereign debt restructuring mechanism to ensure sustainable development and protect human rights.
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Document type: Research paper
The Growing Threat to Climate Activists
The report finds that while the overall volume of posts using terms like "climate cult" or "eco terrorists" on X has remained stable, the number of replies containing dehumanising language has more than doubled. On Facebook and Instagram, over 68,000 posts used denigrating terms, reaching a cumulative 1.86 million shares. TikTok users employ "coded violence" and "dog whistles" to evade moderation, with comments frequently endorsing police violence, including the use of cattle prods and pepper spray. The report argues that this digital rhetoric creates a "pipeline to violence," citing the 2023 fatal shooting of protesters in Panama and the broader criminalisation of environmental defenders.
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Document type: Report
COMBINED SUMMONS
This document is a compilation of legal summons, news articles, emails, and personal essays centered on a long-running conflict between the Amadiba community on South Africa's Wild Coast and the Australian mining company Mineral Commodities Limited (MRC). The materials detail allegations of human rights abuses, fraudulent attempts to secure mining rights for titanium deposits at Xolobeni, and the 2016 assassination of anti-mining activist Sikhosiphi 'Bazooka' Rhadebe.
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Document type: Report
THE REAL CO$T OF STEEL
The report by the Fair Steel Coalition examines the systemic environmental and human rights abuses linked to ArcelorMittal and Ternium. It identifies 'sacrifice zones' where marginalized communities of color face severe pollution and health risks. The document details case studies of land dispossession in Liberia, air and water contamination in South Africa and Brazil, and a pattern of violence and enforced disappearances of environmental defenders in Mexico. It concludes that corporate sustainability policies are superficial and calls for mandatory due diligence, a just transition in steel production, and accountability for human rights violations.
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Document type: Report
SUBMISSION ON PROPOSED ADAPTATION FUND ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL POLICY
CIEL supports the Adaptation Fund Board's proposed Environmental and Social Policy but argues it requires stronger human rights safeguards, more rigorous impact assessments, and a robust, independent grievance mechanism to ensure accountability for implementing entities.
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Document type: Statement
PRESENTACIÓN DE AMICUS CURIAE
The document provides legal arguments to support a lawsuit against the Panamanian National Environmental Authority (ANAM) regarding the Barro Blanco Hydroelectric Project. It contends that the project's EIA was approved without adequate consultation or the free, prior, and informed consent of the Ngäbe people, violating international human rights and environmental law. The brief highlights specific failures, including a single public forum conducted only in Spanish and the omission of critical data regarding indigenous territories adjacent to the Ngäbe-Buglé Comarca.
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Document type: Legal commentary
Beyond Recycling
The document asserts that plastics are fundamentally incompatible with a true circular economy because they rely on non-renewable fossil feedstocks and leach toxic chemicals. It warns that the term 'circular economy' is often used as greenwashing by the plastics industry to relabel waste management and burning as circular. The author recommends capping plastics manufacture and use by 2025, eliminating toxic chemicals in a new global plastics agreement, and prioritizing reuse and refill over waste management.
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Document type: Fact sheet