A court has ruled that companies must first seek permission from local communities if they plan to mine on their ancestral land. This represents a new achievement in land and mining rights for South Africa.
The second meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-Ended Expert Group was scheduled for 3-7 December 2018 in Geneva, Switzerland.
The First Ad hoc Expert Open-Ended was held 29-31 May 2018, Nairobi Kenya. The meeting report can be accessed here: link to the report
6 December 2018 - As independent experts of the UN Human Rights Council*, we call on States to fully integrate human rights standards and principles in the rules for implementing the Paris Agreement on climate change (the Paris Rulebook). In a significant breakthrough, in 2015, Parties to the Paris Agreement recognized the need to integrate their human rights obligations and their efforts to address climate change, pledging to respect and protect human rights in all climate actions.
Entitled “Gaps in International Environmental Law and Environment-Related Instruments: Towards A Global Pact for the Environment” (Document A/73/419), the report provides an overview of international environmental law and environment-related instruments, including the governance structure and implementation of international environmental law. It reveals gaps and deficiencies at multiple levels.
The UN Biodiversity Conference was held from 13 - 29 November 2018 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. The United Nations will call on decision makers from more than 190 countries to step up efforts to halt the biodiversity loss and protect the ecosystems that support food and water security and health for billions of people.
On 28 November 2018, a Sentencing Tribunal of the Honduran Judiciary in Tegucigalpa convicted seven men of the murder of the Lenca leader, an environmental and indigenous rights defender who was shot dead in her home on the night of 2 March 2016. Significant concerns have been expressed internationally about the trial, particularly regarding the exclusion of victims and the delay in trial proceedings.
Environmental rights are enshrined in over 100 constitutions yet 207 people were murdered in 2017 protecting these rights, while many more are harassed, intimidated and forced from their lands. Around 40 - 50 percent of the 197 environmental defenders killed in 2016 came from indigenous and local communities. Women environmental defenders are especially vulnerable.
States exchanged their views on the project of a Global Pact for the Environment and a high level of support from States and NGOs has already emerged. The Group adopted the report of the meeting and set dates for three substantive sessions, all of which will take place in Nairobi, Kenya.
