Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL)

BIG WIN: The scrapping of a highly controversial geoengineering trial in Cornwall represents a huge victory for the local community. Their tireless efforts ensured that Planetary Technologies’ experiment in St. Ives Bay faced the necessary scrutiny, revealing critical flaws in the process. Ocean alkalinity enhancement technology would not only entail massive, energy-intensive mining operations but also threaten essential marine ecosystems and jeopardize the oceans' capacity to absorb carbon. "Manipulating our oceans is not the answer to the climate crisis. Marine geoengineering poses grave dangers to ocean ecosystems and human rights. States have legal obligations to urgently prioritize real solutions to the climate crisis, starting with a full, fast, fair, and funded fossil fuel phase-out,” commented CIEL's Mary Church. #SayNoToGeoengineering #ClimateAction #PhaseOutFossilFuels

Carbon Capture and Storage is touted as a "get-out-of-jail-free" card for fossil fuel industries to keep their polluting business-as-usual. But this technology is clearly no more than a costly distraction. It's high time to prioritize real solutions to the climate crisis, starting with phasing out fossil fuels. Read more in the post below 👇

The main existing frameworks to regulate corporate conduct – at the international, regional, and national levels – currently fail to incorporate the protection of the environment meaningfully. Our new blog by CIEL's Francesca Mingrone & FIAN International's Ana María Suárez Franco explains how including the right to a healthy environment in the new legally binding instrument on transnational corporations is essential to ensure the effective protection of people’s rights and the planet [link in the 1st comment]. #HealthyEnvironmentForAll #HumanRights #PeopleOverProfits

Ahead of the UN climate negotiations in Brazil in November COP30, CIEL & 180+ Indigenous, youth, and environmental organizations from across the world have sent a letter to urgently demand the end of fossil fuels and a just energy transition. Read more: https://lnkd.in/djPmz69d #COP30 #ClimateAction #EndFossilFuels

Last week, the Board of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage approved the "Barbados Implementation Modalities" for a start-up phase of the Fund that makes no reference to ensuring that climate-vulnerable communities can directly access much-needed resources. "Rather than being innovative, the start-up phase risks becoming business as usual. This is even more unacceptable for a Fund that is meant to serve vulnerable communities at the frontlines of a crisis they have not created. As the Board meets again in July, it must course correct," commented CIEL's Senior Campaigner Lien Vandamme. #LossAndDamageFund #LossAndDamage #ClimateReparations The Loss and Damage Collaboration Climate Action Network International

Grazie mille / Thank you, Senator Aurora Floridia, for your support for the legal protection of the right to a #HealthyEnvironmentForAll at the Council of Europe! Our Campaign is glad to see once again the leadership of members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on this crucial right. Given the decades of groundwork by PACE and the recent Committee of Ministers' recommendation (2022)20 that launched these negotiations, the time for non-binding declarations is long past. A legally binding instrument is both necessary and overdue. We hope that the Council of Ministers will stand up for this crucial right and such an instrument at its meeting in Luxembourg on 13-14 May. The time to secure this right and act is NOW! https://lnkd.in/gfZNkHDg

The 58th session of The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) ended last week. The HRC58 addressed critical human rights issues worldwide, including those related to climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss. The Human Rights Council adopted by consensus the biannual resolution on the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, with a focus on the ocean and plastic. The resolution: 🔸 Reaffirms the right to a healthy environment at the same level of other recognized human rights; 🔹 Acknowledges that plastic pollution has human rights impacts and calls on States to tackle the plastic crisis. The resolution reaffirms the precautionary principle in the context of all activities related to ecosystems; and calls on States to consider the right to a healthy environment in the UN Ocean Conference, yet it fails to recognize the impacts of offshore fossil fuels activities. Read more in our statement: https://lnkd.in/eBmnaKkW During the HRC58 session, 25+ States provided a joint statement reiterating the urgency of the climate crisis and its impacts on human rights and stressing the need for the UN Human Rights Council to address fossil fuels as the main driver of the crisis. The statement also reiterated that States must align their conduct with the best available science and States' responsibilities to tackle climate change for present and future generations, and highlighted the rights of future generations, including the right to a healthy environment. Another key highlight of this session was the call by 45+ countries led by Costa Rica to: protect and ensure meaningful participation in international fora of environmental human rights defenders. This session of the Council is now over, but we already look forward to engaging with States and partners during the 59th session of the Council HRC59 in June: https://lnkd.in/e_jn_dPe #HRC58 #HRC59 #HumanRights #HealthyEnvironmentForAll

I’ve seen a lot of hype around ammonia as a “clean” fuel. But here’s the reality: ❗70–80% of ammonia today is used for fertilizer. ❗ Up to 95% of proposed U.S. ammonia projects are based on fossil fuels. ❗ Many of these projects rely on risky and unproven carbon capture and storage (CCS). ❗ Ammonia is a toxic chemical that poses real threats to frontline communities. Did you know 40% of global shipping is used to just move around fossil fuels?    Can the real climate solutions for shipping please stand up??? Promising strategies to cut maritime emissions include: 💨 Wind-assisted propulsion 🚢 Operational changes like slower speeds ⬇️ Reducing shipping demand overall We can’t afford to fall for false solutions that deepen fossil fuel dependence. Let’s invest in what’s real, not speculative distractions.  👏 Huge thanks to Lisa Tostado and Lindsey Jurca Durland for their work on this blog! 👇Read more here https://lnkd.in/eKG9uYD7 ___

Joie Chowdhury (Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) and Vishal Prasad (PISFCC) have written a powerful and insightful piece on how the #ClimateICJAO oral proceedings could reshape global climate policy and law. When upheld, it could shift the balance of power away from polluters and towards the people. But as they highlight… the real work lies ahead - holding major polluters accountable. Read the full article: https://bit.ly/43u86sg

📢THE BOARD IS GOING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION 📢: Yesterday at the fifth meeting of the Board (B5) of the Fund for responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) in Bridgetown, Barbados, a proposed text for the start-up phase of the FRLD was presented and it is not 🚫going in the right direction 🧭. 🤯 ⏳The “start-up phase” is a two-year (2025-2026) “test and learn” period for the FRLD that is intended to guide the development of the Fund’s long-term operations. 📜This new text proposes that the start-up phase will be launched as the “Barbados Work Programme”, and there are a number of places where it turns its back on the governing instrument agreed in the #COP28 decision on the Fund. 😡 🔎Read the governing instrument here: https://lnkd.in/e2zX6CWe 📢Here are the key issues: 1⃣ The start up-phase would allow top down proposals 🏦 by multilateral developments (e.g. the World Bank) and United Nations Agencies (e.g. United Nations Development Programme), despite the governing instrument being clear that country ownership through inclusive planning and direct access is a must. 2⃣ There are no plans for a pilot for community access or small grants despite the governing instrument of the FRLD clearly including direct access to small grants 💸 that support communities, Indigenous People and vulnerable communities. 3⃣ There is no mention of #HumanRights, free prior informed consent (FPIC), or equality ⚖️ despite the governing instrument stressing rights based approach and best practice safeguards. ❤️🩹 4⃣ There are loopholes for blended finance 🤑 and insurance diverting from a focus on grants despite the governing instrument stressing that the FRLD funding would be primarily grant based. At B5 the Board is discussing the proposed text for the start-up phase of the FRLD. 📺Follow via the webcast here: https://lnkd.in/dgGERRbq [Mohamed Nasr, Fund for responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD), Climate Home News, Joe Lo, Megan Rowling, Harjeet Singh, Liane Schalatek, Isatis Cintrón Rodríguez, Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), Loss and Damage Youth Coalition, Jean-Christophe Donnellier, Bob Berwyn, Gerard Howe, Daniel Lund, Climate Action Network International, ActionAid, Greenpeace.]