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States’ Human Rights Obligations in the Context of Climate Change
The Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) increasingly integrated climate change into its 2023 state reviews and released General Comment No. 26, which establishes the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment as implicit in the Convention. The CRC's work focused on state obligations for mitigation and adaptation, the regulation of private actors' contributions to environmental harm, and the protection of children's rights across various legal and procedural frameworks.
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Document type: Briefing
Civil Society Statement on the October 31 Decision of the World Bank’s Board of Directors on the Review of the Inspection Panel’s Toolkit
The statement argues that the World Bank's recent updates to the Inspection Panel's Toolkit are insufficient to modernize the independent accountability mechanism. While welcoming the addition of an advisory role and improved information sharing, the signatories contend that the failure to implement monitoring and dispute resolution functions leaves the Panel deficient compared to other mechanisms. They specifically criticize the reliance on the management-led Grievance Redress Service (GRS) as a substitute for independent dispute resolution and call for the complaint filing deadline to be extended to at least two years after project completion or loan closure.
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Document type: Statement
Appendix 1: Case Studies Illustrating the Human Rights Implications of Large-Scale, Internationally-Financed Projects
The document catalogues alleged human rights implications across numerous international projects in sectors such as mining, energy, and forestry. It organizes these cases by the specific right implicated, including the rights to adequate food, housing, health, and life, as well as freedoms from forced labor and torture. The case studies highlight recurring issues such as forced resettlement, environmental contamination of water and land, the use of military force to suppress protests, and inadequate compensation for displaced populations.
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Document type: Case study
Repurposing EU Subsidies for an Effective Agrifood System Transition to Net Zero
The report highlights a significant gap between current EU agricultural emissions trends and the 2030 and 2050 climate targets. It identifies the absence of agriculture from the EU Taxonomy as a major barrier to defining sustainable activities. The author proposes repurposing the CAP, which accounts for approximately 30% of the EU budget, to fund a transition that requires an estimated annual public investment of EUR 155bn to reduce emissions by 53% by 2050. Key recommendations include adopting science-based sectoral criteria, reforming payment structures to reward green practices, and potentially extending the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to agrifood products to prevent carbon leakage.
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Document type: Report
ClientEarth Guide on access to justice
The document analyzes the legal mechanisms for accessing justice in environmental matters within the European Union, structured around the three pillars of the Aarhus Convention: access to environmental information, public participation in decision-making, and access to justice for breaches of environmental law. It details the scope of review, standing requirements for individuals and NGOs, and the standards of judicial scrutiny required to ensure effective legal protection. The guide specifically highlights the disparities in implementation across Member States and the restrictive nature of judicial review for decisions made by EU institutions.
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Document type: Guide
Additional information on Bulgaria’s systemic and persistent violation of the limit values for SO2 and case C-730/19 CJEU (Commission v. Bulgaria)
The document reports systemic violations of SO2 limit values in Bulgaria, specifically in the Galabovo and Pernik regions. It argues that Bulgarian authorities are failing to enforce the Air Quality Plan of Galabovo (2019–2023) by granting power plants derogations from desulphurisation standards and allowing boilers to operate without abatement systems. Additionally, it notes the absence of a required short-term action plan to reduce emissions during alert threshold exceedances.
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Document type: Statement
积极应对废塑料和 海洋塑料污染
The document assesses plastic pollution in China, highlighting significant production and leakage into oceans, and contrasts this with the EU's comprehensive regulatory framework. It details EU strategies such as the Waste Framework Directive, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), and the 'Plastics 2030' strategy, which aims for 100% reusable or recyclable plastic packaging by 2030. The report suggests China adopt similar integrated land-sea management, eco-design standards, and international cooperation to combat plastic waste.
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Document type: Report
Unprecedented Attacks on NGOs in the EU - We Call on All Democratic Forces To Act for a Strong and Independent Civil Society
A coalition of European civil society organisations (CSOs) is protesting a campaign of disinformation led by some Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) from the European People’s Party (EPP) and far-right groups. The attack specifically targets the legitimacy of public funding for environmental NGOs under the LIFE programme. The statement argues that independent CSOs are essential for a functioning democracy and a fully informed decision-making process, contrasting the modest public grants received by NGOs with the high spending of corporate lobbyists in Brussels.
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Document type: Statement
Climate of Cooperation
The report evaluates the Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR), concluding that its -30% target for non-ETS sectors is insufficient to meet Paris Agreement goals and may only result in a 26.6% reduction due to flexibilities. It advocates for project-based transfers of Annual Emission Allocations (AEAs) to ensure additionality and avoid carbon lock-in in lower-income Member States. Specific opportunities for such projects are identified in the building, waste, and gas sectors of Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary.
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Document type: Report
Farming money
The report argues that excessive financial speculation in agricultural commodity derivatives and the financing of land grabs by European banks, pension funds, and insurance companies contribute to food price volatility and human rights abuses. It identifies key institutions such as Deutsche Bank, Barclays, and BNP Paribas as significant actors in these markets and recommends strict EU regulations, including position limits and bans on index funds for agricultural commodities, to protect the right to food.
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Document type: Report
EU companies burn fossil gas and taxpayer cash
Global Witness reports that the EU has spent nearly €5 billion in taxpayer-funded grants and loans on 41 gas projects since 2013, with approximately €439 million wasted on seven projects that failed or are unlikely to function. The author contends that the TEN-E regulation creates a conflict of interest by allowing the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas (ENTSOG) to influence project selection. The report specifically highlights the BRUA pipeline, which received €431 million but faces significant viability issues regarding Black Sea gas extraction. Global Witness calls for the European Commission to remove all gas projects from the fifth Project of Common Interest (PCI) list and to reform the TEN-E regulation to redirect funds toward renewable energy.
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Document type: Statement
LIGHTENING LABOUR’S LOAD AN ATLAS OF GREEN TAX ALTERNATIVES
The report presents a series of expert contributions from Green movements in 16 European countries, arguing that labour taxes are often the primary source of government revenue and should be shifted toward taxes on pollution, capital, and resource use. Proposed alternatives include carbon taxes, wealth taxes, and taxes on automated work, while improvements to labour taxation focus on increasing progressivity, introducing negative income taxes for low earners, and simplifying tax codes.
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Document type: Report
ydl-parent-guide_fr_2020-0b3eaafe6b112952.pdf
The document introduces the Young Digital Leaders (YDL) program and offers a comprehensive framework for parents to guide children in navigating the internet safely. It focuses on identifying disinformation, understanding algorithmic biases like filter bubbles, and promoting respectful online communication. The guide includes a glossary of key digital concepts and a directory of French educational resources to support the development of proactive and ethical digital citizens.
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Document type: Guide
Revolution, Elite Fear and Electoral Institutions
The authors argue that Proportional Representation (PR) is often adopted not due to electoral competition, but as a response to systemic threats of revolution. Using Norway's 1919 reform as a case study, they demonstrate that incumbents viewed PR as a de-radicalization tool to strengthen parliamentary legitimacy and isolate revolutionary radicals. Quantitative analysis of roll-call votes shows that MPs facing local industrial conflicts and soldiers' councils were significantly more likely to support PR, regardless of the actual electoral strength of socialist parties in their districts.
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Document type: Research paper
Trajectories of post-communist transformation: Myths and rival theories about change in Central and Southeastern Europe
The author examines the post-communist trajectories of Central and Southeastern Europe, arguing that the collapse of communism was foreseeable and constituted a comprehensive revolution. The text analyzes debates over whether the process was a 'transition' or 'transformation' and identifies key determinants of democratic consolidation, such as the absence of war, the role of the European Union, and educational attainment. It specifically refutes the 'ancient hatreds' myth regarding the Yugoslav meltdown, attributing the conflict instead to system illegitimacy, economic decay, and the agency of leaders like Slobodan Milošević.
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Document type: Research paper
TAXONOMIE - SYNTHESE ET ANALYSE DE L’ACTE DELEGUE DU 2 FEVRIER 2022 ATTENUATION DU CHANGEMENT CLIMATIQUE
Reclaim Finance analyzes the EU's decision to include gas and nuclear energy in its green taxonomy. The report argues that the criteria for gas—such as the 270 gCO2e/kWh emission threshold and the 2030 construction deadline—are incompatible with the 1.5°C goal and risk creating stranded assets. Regarding nuclear energy, the report contends that long construction times and the lack of operational geological waste storage by 2050 undermine its status as a 'transitional' activity, while noting that only France and Finland currently have advanced storage projects.
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Document type: Report
EUROPEAN GREEN OFFICE HANDBOOK
The European Green Office (EGO) Handbook serves as a guide for transforming offices into sustainable spaces through a 'light' Environmental Management System (EMS). It outlines a Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle involving top-level commitment, the appointment of a Green Office coordinator, and the monitoring of environmental performance indicators. The document provides detailed technical and behavioral advice across several domains: energy efficiency (lighting and HVAC), sustainable procurement (prioritizing local and Fairtrade products), resource reduction (minimizing paper and water use), waste management (following the waste hierarchy), and the creation of a healthy indoor environment. It also addresses social responsibility, including work-life balance and inclusive employment, and provides a detailed checklist and data requirements for an Office Ecological Footprint Calculator.
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Document type: Guide
-1
This 2020 report by the Stockholm Environment Institute analyzes Green Public Procurement (GPP) in Estonia and Europe. It defines GPP as a subset of sustainable procurement focusing on life-cycle environmental impacts. Finding that GPP represented only 3% of Estonian procurements in 2018, the report provides legal analysis, comparisons with countries like Austria, Bulgaria, and Spain, and detailed technical GPP criteria for products such as sanitary faucets, toilets, and urinals to encourage wider adoption.
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Document type: Report
Complying with the Kyoto Protocol requirements
The report evaluates the ability of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovenia to meet Kyoto Protocol requirements, specifically regarding national systems for inventories and Kyoto Mechanisms. It ranks individual country capacities as high, medium, or low, identifies shared challenges and opportunities for collaboration among these Central and Eastern European (CEE) nations, and provides country-specific recommendations for investment, political will, and donor support.
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Document type: Report
Power Politics
The report examines the shift from public ownership to private, unbundled utility models in the electricity sector, arguing that these reforms are fundamentally issues of sustainable development. Based on case studies from Argentina, Bulgaria, Ghana, India, Indonesia, and South Africa, the authors find that electricity reforms have been primarily driven by financial concerns and donor conditions rather than social or environmental goals. The document advocates for a reform process that addresses the needs of the 1.7 billion people lacking electricity access and aligns investor incentives with a clean energy future to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
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Document type: Report