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The Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) presents a critical overview of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), asserting that the technology overpromises on emission reductions while introducing significant safety risks and high costs. The document highlights the 'energy penalty'—the extra energy required to power capture equipment—and notes that most existing projects are used for enhanced oil recovery (EOR), which can increase overall emissions. It warns that a large-scale CCS buildout in the United States would require an unrealistic and dangerous expansion of pipeline infrastructure. Furthermore, the text argues that CCS is unnecessary for 'hard to abate' industrial sectors, where electrification and demand reduction are more viable, and critiques 'blue hydrogen' as a means to prolong fossil fuel dependence. The document concludes that global capture capacity is negligible compared to total emissions and that public subsidies, such as the US 45Q tax credit, inappropriately support the fossil fuel economy.

The document analyzes how non-party trade provisions in existing MEAs, such as the Montreal Protocol and CITES, incentivize treaty ratification and prevent 'free-riding' by restricting trade with non-signatory states. It argues that a future plastics treaty should include similar trade bans or restrictions on polymers, additives, and plastic products to ensure effectiveness and a level playing field, while suggesting that the treaty's Secretariat be granted oversight authority to close implementation loopholes.

CIEL supports the OHCHR report on climate change's impact on vulnerable populations, arguing that States must regulate fossil fuel corporations and their financiers to address the root causes of the crisis. The statement emphasizes the need for an urgent transition from fossil fuels, increased grants-based climate finance, and the protection of environmental defenders.

CIEL supports the Special Rapporteur's findings that the triple planetary crisis disproportionately affects women and girls due to intersecting structural inequalities. The statement argues that protecting these rights requires States to rapidly phase out fossil fuel extraction, consumption, and trade, and to implement moratoriums on new petrochemical facilities. It specifically highlights the health risks of microplastics for women and calls for a human rights-based approach in the negotiations of a plastics treaty.

CIEL endorses the Special Rapporteur's findings that the climate crisis negatively impacts the right to housing, particularly for marginalized communities, and supports calls for international loss and damage compensation and debt suspension for vulnerable countries. The statement warns against 'green grabbing' and climate gentrification resulting from misguided mitigation and adaptation policies, urging that climate finance and national plans include safeguards to prevent forced evictions and arbitrary displacement.

The document contends that the 'circular economy' concept has been co-opted by the plastics industry to justify continued production through a reliance on recycling and thermal processing. It argues that plastics are fundamentally linear due to their fossil fuel origins, toxic additives, and material degradation during recycling. The brief advocates for a global agreement that caps plastics production by 2025, eliminates hazardous chemicals, and prioritizes reuse and redesign over waste management.

The document examines the ubiquity of airborne micro- and nanoplastics, detailing how they originate from diverse sources, travel long distances via the atmosphere, and enter the human body through inhalation and ingestion. It highlights the 'Trojan Horse' effect, where these particles carry toxic chemicals and pathogens into internal organs, potentially causing respiratory diseases, endocrine disruption, and developmental issues. The briefing concludes that current voluntary measures are insufficient and calls for legally binding global regulations to reduce plastic production and phase out hazardous chemicals.

The authors argue that the IFC's accountability mechanism is structurally flawed and that the Management Action Plan is irrelevant to affected communities because it focuses on internal procedural improvements rather than remediating concrete environmental and social damages. They highlight ongoing ecological crises, such as the Maipo River failing to reach the sea in January 2023, and criticize the IFC's 'irresponsible' exit from the project in 2018, which they claim was used to evade responsibility for damages and reprisals against complainants.

The report argues that the World Bank Group must shift from project-by-project 'greening' to a systemic transformation of its portfolio to support 1.5°C alignment. It proposes a strict taxonomy that excludes fossil gas and 'false solutions' like CCUS and nuclear power, while emphasizing a rights-based approach to ensure the energy transition does not burden marginalized communities or increase debt in low-income countries.

The document outlines a human rights-based framework for the loss and damage fund, emphasizing the need for inclusive public participation, non-discriminatory access to finance, and the use of grants rather than loans to avoid increasing debt in developing nations. It proposes that funding be based on the 'polluter pays' principle and that the fund provide comprehensive reparations, including restitution and compensation, while ensuring strong social and environmental safeguards.

The document outlines a human rights-based framework for the Loss and Damage Fund, emphasizing the need for inclusive governance, grants-based funding from historic polluters, and the provision of substantive redress for marginalized communities.

The Maastricht Principles on the Human Rights of Future Generations define future generations as those who do not yet exist but will inherit the Earth, asserting that human rights contain no temporal limitation. The document outlines binding obligations for States to respect, protect, and fulfil these rights, specifically highlighting the need to cease unsustainable production and consumption patterns and to phase out fossil fuels. It emphasizes the role of Indigenous Peoples' knowledge, the principle of trusteeship over the Earth, and the necessity of providing effective remedies and reparations for intergenerational harm.

The document outlines a human rights-based framework for the Loss and Damage Fund, emphasizing the need for inclusive public participation, comprehensive reparations (including non-economic losses), and public grant-based financing based on the 'polluter pays' principle to avoid increasing debt in the Global South.

A coalition of human rights and environmental organizations is calling on the U.S. government to unambiguously reject the disproportionate use of force and arbitrary detentions by Peruvian security forces under President Dina Boluarte, arguing that vague statements are insufficient compared to the concerns expressed by the UN, EU, and other nations.

The document notes a sharp decline in the CCPR's explicit references to climate change in its 2022 State review process compared to previous years. It highlights specific recommendations for the Philippines regarding corporate liability and for Brazil regarding carbon emissions. Most significantly, it analyzes the case of Billy et al. v. Australia, where the CCPR found that Australia violated the rights to home, private life, family, and culture by failing to implement adequate climate adaptation measures for the Torres Strait Islanders, marking the first time a human rights treaty body established a State's duty to protect people from climate impacts.

The document reviews CEDAW's 2022 activities, noting that the committee issued climate-related recommendations or questions to 30 out of 49 States considered, with a primary focus on disaster risk reduction and adaptation over mitigation. It highlights specific concerns regarding fossil fuel extraction in Uganda and Namibia and details General Recommendation No. 39, which emphasizes the rights of Indigenous women and girls to free, prior and informed consent regarding extractive and climate projects on their territories.

The document reviews the 2022 activities of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), focusing on its Concluding Observations for the United States, France, and Cameroon. It highlights the Committee's concerns over the disproportionate impacts of climate change and extractive industries on racial and ethnic minorities and indigenous peoples. Additionally, it discusses the development of General Recommendation No. 37 on the right to health, noting civil society efforts to ensure the climate crisis and environmental racism are integrated into this framework, supported by findings from the IPCC and WHO.

The CESCR frequently addressed climate change in its 2022 State reviews, focusing on mitigation policies, adaptation plans, and the phase-out of fossil fuels. The Committee emphasized the need for States to meet Paris Agreement commitments and highlighted extraterritorial obligations to ensure that domestic policies and international agreements do not adversely affect human rights in other countries. Additionally, the 2022 General Comment No. 26 on land rights stressed that climate mitigation measures, such as large-scale renewable energy projects, must include robust safeguards to protect human rights and the environment.

The report analyzes COP27 outcomes through a human rights lens, highlighting the breakthrough establishment of a Loss and Damage Fund and the first consensus-based mention of the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. However, it criticizes the failure to commit to a fossil fuel phase-out, the influence of fossil fuel lobbyists, and the 'unprecedented' restrictions on civil society participation imposed by the host country, Egypt. The document also notes missed opportunities in the Action Plan on Action for Climate Empowerment and the Gender Action Plan review, while calling for a rights-based approach to the Global Stocktake and Article 6.4 carbon market mechanisms.

The 2022 activities of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) show a sustained focus on climate change, with references appearing in 25 out of 33 State review processes. The Committee emphasized adaptation, mitigation, and the empowerment of children in policymaking, while specifically calling out the need for more ambitious emission reductions in developed nations like Germany. A significant portion of the CRC's work focused on the accountability of private actors in fossil fuel production and the extraterritorial obligations of States to protect children's rights abroad. Furthermore, the CRC developed a draft General Comment No. 26, which links a safe climate to the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment and advocates for the phasing out of fossil fuels.