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The document details how mercury exposure—through industrial emissions, artisanal gold mining, and contaminated food sources—causes severe neurological and systemic health damage, particularly in fetuses and children. It links these health outcomes to violations of international human rights frameworks and provides case studies of mass poisoning in Japan, Iraq, and South Africa.

The document outlines how hazardous pesticides impact human health and the environment, specifically in developing countries, and maps these impacts to violations of international human rights laws. It emphasizes the responsibility of states to protect citizens and the obligation of companies to respect human rights through due diligence. Key rights identified as being at risk include the right to life, the right to the highest attainable standard of health, the right to food, the right to information, and the specific protections afforded to workers and children.

The report details how phthalates, used as plasticizers in a wide array of consumer and industrial products, act as endocrine disruptors and carcinogens. It highlights the vulnerability of children and fetuses, the risks to occupational workers, and the systemic failure to provide information or remedies to those exposed. The document links these health impacts to violations of international human rights frameworks, such as the ICCPR and CESCR, and notes that while some restrictions exist in the EU and US, DEHP remains widely used globally, particularly in the Global South.

The report details how phthalates, used as plasticizers in PVC and other products, act as endocrine disruptors linked to reproductive toxicity, cancer, and developmental issues. It argues that ubiquitous exposure through food, water, indoor air, and medical devices infringes upon human rights, particularly for vulnerable groups like children and workers, and highlights the lack of adequate product labeling and legal remedies for victims.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) issued climate-related recommendations or questions to 35 out of 43 States considered in 2023. The Committee primarily focused on the differentiated impact of climate change on women, emphasizing the need for gender-responsive strategies in adaptation and disaster risk reduction, as well as the increased vulnerability of rural, Indigenous, migrant, and refugee women. While less frequent than adaptation, the Committee also addressed mitigation policies, fossil fuel extraction—specifically criticizing Norway's expansion of oil and gas permits in the Arctic—and the necessity of women's participation in the UNFCCC loss and damage fund.

The CERD increased its climate-related outputs in 2023, focusing on the disproportionate impacts of climate change on Indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities in several countries. The Committee emphasized the need for adaptation measures to consider specific ethnic needs and the importance of free, prior, and informed consent for extractive projects. Additionally, the Committee's draft General Recommendation No. 37 highlighted the negative health outcomes of climate change, including heat-related illness and mental health impacts, which disproportionately affect racial and ethnic minorities.

The Human Rights Committee (CCPR) addressed climate change in its 2023 state review procedure through two Concluding Observations and two Lists of Issues. Key focus areas included Brazil's lack of action on climate change and Amazon deforestation, mitigation efforts in Namibia and Pakistan, the rights of Indigenous Peoples in Namibia, Suriname, Brazil, and Jamaica, and the protection of environmental defenders in Panama and Serbia.

The document synthesizes the work of UN human rights treaty bodies (HRTBs) in addressing climate change, specifically focusing on Concluding Observations issued to States. It highlights that while climate change is not explicitly in key human rights treaties, HRTBs increasingly use their monitoring roles to argue that protecting human rights requires specific climate action. The report details recommendations across several themes, including the disproportionate impacts on women, children, and indigenous peoples, the need for gender-sensitive and child-sensitive climate strategies, and the obligation of some States to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel extraction to meet human rights standards. It provides detailed analysis of the three most active bodies: CEDAW, CESCR, and CRC.

The report outlines how the CEDAW Committee interprets States' obligations to ensure gender-responsive climate action, emphasizing the particular vulnerabilities of rural and older women and the necessity of women's participation in decision-making.

The document outlines the CESCR's monitoring of the ICESCR, highlighting how climate change threatens substantive rights such as the right to water, food, and health. It details the Committee's increasing use of Concluding Observations to urge States to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, transition to renewable energy, and protect vulnerable groups, particularly indigenous peoples, from climate impacts.

The document serves as a reference tool to track the recognition of Indigenous Peoples' rights and traditional knowledge within the UNFCCC process, highlighting over 60 decisions and the establishment of the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform.

The document critiques the February 2023 draft proposals from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) regarding remedial action and responsible exit. It argues that these drafts do not meet international human rights law standards, as they lack an actionable plan for remedy and fail to apply to existing projects. The briefing highlights that remedy can take various forms beyond financial compensation, such as public apologies and guarantees of non-repetition, and suggests that providing remedy actually reduces legal exposure for the institutions. It calls on the IFC/MIGA Board of Directors to require second drafts that implement the 2020 External Review recommendations and commit to financial contributions when financing has contributed to harm.

The document argues that the export of pesticides prohibited or not approved in Europe (EU, Switzerland, and the UK) to parties of the Bamako Convention in Africa and the Central American Agreement constitutes a violation of international law. It asserts that these substances are classified as hazardous waste under the national laws of importing countries and the terms of these regional agreements, thereby breaching the Basel Convention. Furthermore, the text claims that these exports violate international human rights obligations regarding the right to health. The analysis extends to other exporting nations like Canada, China, and Russia, concluding that all Basel Convention parties must immediately prohibit the export of such hazardous chemicals.

The document advocates for a land-use framework in the post-2020 climate agreement based on four principles: rights, ambition, equity, and biodiversity. It warns that treating terrestrial carbon sequestration as fungible with fossil fuel emissions undermines climate ambition and risks human rights violations. The authors recommend separate targets for industrial and land-based emissions, the protection of tenure rights for indigenous peoples and local communities, and a per capita allocation of agricultural emissions to ensure global food security.

The document examines the World Bank's historical reluctance to integrate non-economic factors—specifically governance, civil society, and human rights—into its development mission. It argues that the Bank's adherence to a strict interpretation of its Articles of Agreement leads to an ad hoc approach to governance and a failure to protect civil and political rights. While noting progress in 'mainstreaming' public participation and the creation of the Inspection Panel, the author contends that these efforts are often superficial or undermined by an institutional 'culture of approval' that prioritizes loan volume over project quality.

The document argues that exporting pesticides banned in their country of origin to Africa and Central America violates the Bamako Convention, the Central American Agreement, and the Basel Convention, as these substances are defined as hazardous waste by the importing nations. It asserts that European states and other Basel Convention parties (such as Canada, China, and Russia) are failing their international legal and human rights obligations by allowing this trade, which harms health and ecosystems in low- and middle-income countries.

The document argues that the Loss and Damage Fund (LDF) must move beyond procedural participation to a human-rights-based framework that empowers the most affected communities. It recommends establishing robust modalities for Active Observers, creating a community access window for small grants, and implementing an independent grievance redress mechanism. The brief emphasizes that relying on World Bank standards for environmental and social safeguards or information disclosure is insufficient for the LDF's specific mission of climate justice.

The paper analyzes the convergence of human rights and environmental law, arguing that a healthy environment is a prerequisite for the enjoyment of fundamental human rights. It explores legal tools within the Inter-American System—such as precautionary measures, admissibility exceptions, and state responsibility for third-party actions—to address environmental degradation. Through a comparative analysis of jurisprudence from the Inter-American, African, and European systems, the author demonstrates how rights to life, integrity, property, and information are increasingly interpreted to include environmental dimensions, emphasizing the state's duty of due diligence to prevent harm from industrial activities.

The document argues that NDCs must be guided by human rights obligations to be both legally compliant and more effective. It provides a comprehensive checklist for evaluating NDCs across nine key areas, including mitigation ambition, participatory planning, gender justice, and the rights of Indigenous Peoples. The guide emphasizes that NDCs should include an urgent phase-out of fossil fuels, avoid reliance on carbon offsets or technological 'false solutions' like CCS, and ensure a just transition that protects labor rights and prevents mining-related human rights violations.

The document argues that human rights-based climate action is a legal obligation under the Paris Agreement and is more effective, as confirmed by the IPCC. It provides a comprehensive checklist for NDCs, emphasizing the need for a 1.5°C warming limit, the phase-out of fossil fuels, and the exclusion of carbon offsets and 'false technological solutions' like carbon capture and storage (CCS). The checklist details requirements for inclusive public participation, gender equality, the protection of indigenous peoples' rights—specifically free, prior and informed consent—and the implementation of a just transition. It also calls for debt-free international climate finance and robust monitoring systems that use disaggregated data by gender, age, and disability.