Violence and natural resource depletion linked in international report
A report released Thursday states that the vicious cycle linking natural resource depletion and violence may have gone past the point of no return in some parts of planet, and will likely be exacerbated by climate change. The second edition of the Ecological Threat Report (ETR), released by the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP), [...]
UN Human Rights Council recognizes sustainable environment as a human right
The United Human Rights Council recognized a “safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment” as a fundamental human right on Friday. The resolution first proposed in the 1990s will implement the right to a healthy environment and introduce a Special Rapporteur to establish these changes. The text proposed by countries including the Maldives and Morocco passed [...]
Turkey ratifies Paris climate agreement amidst unsettled reservations
The Grand national assembly of Turkey ratified Wednesday the Paris agreement on climate change, a move coming nearly six years after it originally signed the agreement. However, as the last G20 country to ratify the agreement, Turkey is still dissatisfied with its classification as a developed country under the agreement. Despite signing the agreement in 2016, [...]
HRW: UN must act to recognize the right to a healthy environment
Human Rights Watch released a report on Wednesday urging the United Nations Human Rights Council to act to recognize the right to a healthy environment and stated that governments should prioritize addressing the global environmental crisis. The report addresses the statements made by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, who said [...]
California governor signs legislation to tackle plastic pollution and ban use of toxic chemicals
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed nine bills into law on Tuesday to reduce single-use trash pollution and support recycling goals, address climate change, and ban the use of Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in products for children and in disposable food packaging. To be advertised or labeled as recyclable, Senate Bill 343 requires products to [...]
California dispatches: after recall victory, Newsom goes ‘all out’ to right wrongs in California
JURIST is launching a new series of dispatches from major US states written by JURIST correspondents “on the ground” in those jurisdictions. JURIST Operations Director Ram Eachambadi files this report from Los Angeles. Less than a month after his recall victory, a re-energized Governor Gavin Newsom has gone on the offensive, signing numerous bills and [...]
UK government to impose tougher penalties on climate activists obstructing roads
Boris Johnson’s government announced Sunday its intention to introduce tougher penalties against protesters who obstruct roads and motorways, including up to six months in prison. The changes are being made in response to the activities of Insulate Britain, a group of climate change activists seeking a nationwide program to insulate homes in Britain in order [...]
PACE proposes inclusion of additional protocol on right to healthy environment into ECHR
The Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly Wednesday passed a resolution urging the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers to adopt an additional protocol to the European Convention of Human Rights establishing an enforceable “right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment.” The Social Affairs Committee of the Assembly presented the draft proposal in September [...]
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a number of bills on Tuesday to ease the state’s housing shortage. These bills, combined with four signed earlier in September, form a 31-bill housing agenda to address housing costs, homelessness, and climate change. Newsom’s administration has already attempted to tackle these issues, even investing $22 billion to create more [...]
The South Pacific Ocean nation Vanuatu announced Saturday its intention to seek an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on the rights of present and future generations to be protected from the adverse consequences of climate change. Speaking at the UN General Assembly on Saturday, Vanuatu’s Prime Minister Bob Loughman warned that the climate crisis is [...]
