Our Work


Human Rights And The Environment

 

Earthjustice uses U.S. courts and international tribunals to hold corporations and governments accountable for human rights violations resulting from environmental devastation.  Through petitions to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, for example, we are helping to protect the way of life of the Arctic Inuit people from the harmful effects of global warming, and to protect the health of children and local community members from the harmful effects of pollution from an aluminum smelter in La Oroya, Peru.

We also work closely with the United Nations to establish universal recognition of the right to a healthy environment.  Each year, Earthustice submits a report to the UN Human Rights Council detailing the most significant developments at the domestic, regional and international levels which demonstrate the growing awareness of the right to a healthy environment.  The report also includes case studies about issues in various countries that clearly illustrate the link between human rights and the environment.  Click on the map below/this link to access the UN report web tool.

 Read more about annual UN Environmental Rights Reports

 Browse Human Rights Case Studies from our UN Reports

 Browse Human Rights Developments from our UN Reports 

In addition, Earthjustice has taken advantage of the opportunity to submit Universal Periodic Review (UPR) reports to the United Nation Human Rights Council. The UPR process was set up to review the status of human rights in the 192 UN member-states. Earthjustice has urged the Council to consider the right to a healthy environment, the right to participate in decisions that affect the environment, as well as rights to food, water, health, shelter, a means of subsistence, an adequate standard of living, and cultural heritage. We have also used the UPR process to encourage the Council to recognize and act on the important issue of the impact that climate change has on the most fundamental human rights.

  • In Turkmenistan, we urged the Council to take action to ensure the rights of environmental activists who are not free to operate openly there.
  • In Kazakhstan, we urged the Council to take action to ensure the government provides access to information, avenues for public participation and access to justice to its public when making environmental decisions.
  • In the small island states of Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Comoros and Fiji, we urged the Council to recognize the responsibility of the biggest global warming polluters to proportionally share responsibility for violations of human rights due to climate change impacts, including sea level rise, worsened storms and droughts, and the potential “climate refugee” crisis.
  • In Bolivia, our joint submission with the Bolivian NGO Agua Sustentable highlighted the impacts of global warming-induced glacier melting in Bolivia, and drew attention to the resulting threat to human rights such as the rights to a means of subsistence and to freshwater resources.

 Universal Periodic Review of Bolivia 

 Universal Periodic Review of Comoros 

 Universal Periodic Review of Fiji 

 Universal Periodic Review of Kazakhstan 

 Universal Periodic Review of Turkmenistan 

 Universal Periodic Review of Tuvalu 

 Universal Periodic Review of Vanuatu