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This briefing by the Center for International Environmental Law synthesizes the work of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) regarding climate change. It details the Committee's use of General Comments, a Joint Statement with other treaty bodies, and the State reporting procedure to establish that States have human rights obligations to mitigate climate change, protect vulnerable populations, and provide international cooperation and finance.

This report by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) and the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR) synthesizes the work of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) regarding climate change. It details the CRC's use of General Comments, the State reporting procedure, and the communications procedure to establish that States have legal obligations to protect children's rights—including the rights to life, health, and culture—against the impacts of global climate change.

A statement by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) evaluating the chemical and waste-related commitments of the European Commission's European Green Deal, calling for a human rights-based approach to avoid exporting environmental impacts.

A statement by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) outlining the critical requirements for COP-25 in Madrid to maintain credibility and effectiveness. The authors argue that the conference must move beyond baseline expectations to deliver rights-based climate action, increase national ambition for 2020, and ensure that carbon trading mechanisms do not repeat the failures of the Kyoto Protocol.

This executive summary from the Center for International Environmental Law details how the lifecycle of plastic—from fossil fuel extraction to waste management—contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions, threatening the global goal of limiting temperature rise to 1.5°C.

This briefing note from the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) outlines recommendations for UNFCCC Parties at COP-25 to integrate human rights, gender equality, and participatory processes into climate action. It emphasizes the need for rights-based safeguards in Article 6 market mechanisms, the ratification of the Escazú Agreement, and the protection of indigenous peoples and local communities in adaptation and loss and damage frameworks.

This briefing note by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) argues for the integration of human rights, social safeguards, public participation, and independent grievance mechanisms into the rules and modalities of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. It highlights the risks of environmental and social harm associated with carbon markets and draws on failures of the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism to advocate for a rights-based approach to climate governance.

This briefing note from the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) argues for the integration of procedural rights—specifically access to information, public participation, and access to justice—into climate governance and the implementation of the Paris Agreement. It highlights the roles of the Aarhus Convention and the Escazú Agreement in promoting environmental democracy and provides specific recommendations for the COP-25 agenda to ensure climate policies are inclusive, rights-based, and gender-responsive.

The Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) issued a letter of support for recommendations by Fossil Free California and Environment California regarding climate risk disclosure under SB 964. CIEL urges the boards of CalPERS and CalSTRS to implement robust, detailed financial disclosures to demonstrate that their investment decisions regarding climate-vulnerable assets are consistent with their fiduciary duties to beneficiaries.

This report by the Center for International Environmental Law analyzes the June 2019 Climate Negotiations (SB-50) in Bonn, focusing on the integration of human rights into climate policies, the development of Article 6 mechanisms of the Paris Agreement, and the work of various UNFCCC constituted bodies.

This briefing note from the Center for International Environmental Law outlines the international legal frameworks and specific UNFCCC entry points for promoting public participation and access to information in climate policies. It emphasizes the need for procedural rights to prevent harm to communities, particularly within the mechanisms of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, and suggests ways to enhance the inclusivity of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and the intergovernmental negotiating process.

This fact sheet from the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) details how the lifecycle of plastic—from fossil fuel extraction to disposal—contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and threatens the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C.

This Synthesis Note by the Center for International Environmental Law examines the obligations of States to respect, protect, and fulfill human rights within the context of climate change, specifically focusing on authoritative guidance provided by United Nations human rights treaty bodies (HRTBs) in 2018.

In this statement, the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) defends its report 'Fuel to the Fire' against criticisms from geoengineering advocate Jesse Reynolds. CIEL argues that fossil fuel companies and climate denialists have disproportionately influenced the promotion of geoengineering technologies to delay the phase-out of fossil fuels and avoid aggressive emission reductions.

This report by the Center for International Environmental Law examines the fossil fuel industry's involvement in the development and promotion of geoengineering technologies, arguing that these strategies are used to justify the continued use of carbon-intensive fuels and avoid systemic change.

A statement from the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) commemorating the life and career of Bradnee Chambers (1966-2019), a Canadian diplomat and environmental leader within the United Nations system.

This 2019 report by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) and the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR) analyzes how United Nations human rights treaty bodies (HRTBs) are defining the obligations of States to protect human rights amidst climate change. The report focuses on the record level of engagement by HRTBs in 2018, detailing recommendations across adaptation, mitigation, procedural rights, and international cooperation, with specific syntheses for the committees focusing on women (CEDAW), economic, social and cultural rights (CESCR), and children (CRC).

This briefing tracks the integration of human rights into UN climate governance from 2010 to 2019. It highlights the progression from the Cancun Agreements to the Paris Agreement, where human rights, health, and the rights of indigenous peoples and vulnerable groups were explicitly recognized. The document details how COP decisions have mandated human rights considerations in capacity building, gender action, and loss and damage. It also reports that by December 2017, 76 Parties had referenced human rights in national reports and 24 countries had included them in their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions.

The report "Authorized to Steal" by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) investigates how organized crime networks in Peru use official documentation to launder illegally harvested timber from the Amazon. Analyzing 1,024 Forest Transport Permits (GTFs) from 2017, the report details the collusion between forestry regents, public officials, and private businesspeople to bypass regulations, specifically in the Loreto and Ucayali regions.

This 2019 report by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) exposes how organized crime networks, including 34 public officials and forest regents, use fraudulent official documentation to launder illegal timber from the Peruvian Amazon. Analyzing 1,024 transport guides from 2017, the report finds that a vast majority of timber from local forests and private estates is high-risk, and that systemic failures in the Peruvian legal and administrative systems allow these crimes to persist with impunity.