Collective Work

Media Advisory: Grassroots, Global South, Feminist and Indigenous Leaders Demand Human Rights be Centered in Addressing Loss and Damage

There is no denying that the historical and present responsibility for the climate crisis lies primarily with wealthy, highly industrialized countries and powerful corporate actors. Despite contributing the least to the climate crisis, frontline communities in the Global South are paying the price with the destruction of their territories and the erasure of their cultural heritage.

African Peoples’ Counter Cop: Resisting False Solutions to Advance Climate Justice & Biodiversity Protection

Ahead of COP 27, which will be held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt and COP 15 which will be held in Montreal, Canada; ESCR-Net in partnership with Natural Justice, the African...

Members intervene in pair of groundbreaking climate change-related human rights cases pending at the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights

Collectives of ESCR-Net members have filed third-party interventions in a pair of groundbreaking climate change-related human rights cases now pending before the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights. The two cases—Duarte Agostinho v. Portugal and 32 Other States, and ...

Collective Submission on Loss and Damage to the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights & Climate Change

On 23 June 2022, ESCR-Net members sent a collective submission to the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on human rights and climate change, Mr. Ian Fry, in response to a call for input on “Promotion and protection of human rights in the context of mitigation, adaptation, and financial actions to address climate change, with particular emphasis on loss and damage,” to inform his upcoming report to be presented at the 77th session of the UN General Assembly. The joint submission focused especially on loss and damage. [Read the full submission here].

Centering Care in a Feminist Intersectional Approach to Loss and Damage

As the pandemic and escalating climate crisis has exacerbated inequalities and reminded us of the centrality of care in our societies, ESCR-Net held a CSW66* parallel event entitled “Centering Care In a Feminist Intersectional Approach to Loss and Damage” (24 March 2022). During the event, women's rights advocates and feminist activists from across regions reflected on advancing action to ensure the rapid, equitable, ecologically sustainable, and just transition away from fossil fuels to a zero-carbon, regenerative care-based society focused on the well-being of people and the planet.

UN Biodiversity: What Outcomes for the Human Right to Land?

Between 13-29 March 2022, intersessional meetings were held in Geneva ahead of COP15, an upcoming major United Nations biodiversity summit. Ahead of these preparatory talks amongst States, ESCR-Net members sent a collective letter calling on all Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to adopt a human-rights based approach overall, and in particular to recognize, respect, protect and promote the overarching right to self-determination, including free, prior and informed consent, the right to land and tenure rights in the post-2020 global biodiversity framework (GBF), which is currently being negotiated and likely to be adopted at COP15. It further called on governments to adopt a ‘land tenure indicator’ as well as emphasized the importance of strengthening protections for human rights defenders.

Collective letter: Centering the Right to Land and Tenure Rights in the Post 2020 Global Biodiversity Framework

Ahead of upcoming intersessional meetings in Geneva in March 2022, ESCR-Net members have adopted a...

Confronting Corporate Capture to Advance Climate Justice: A Feminist Perspective

On 14 September, 2021, ESCR-Net hosted a roundtable on Confronting Corporate Capture to Advance Climate Justice: A Feminist...

COP26 Did Not Deliver on Rights or Justice

Despite grave warnings from the scientific community and urgent calls from social movements, Indigenous Peoples and civil society on the urgent need to act at the scale required for a livable planet,...

Delivering on Loss and Damage at COP 26 is a Climate Justice and Human Rights Imperative

In a briefing note released ahead of COP 26, ESCR-Net members join other civil society organizations and social movements in calling on Parties, particularly Parties bearing historical responsibility for the climate crisis, as well as with the most available resources, to prioritize and...

Networkwide Exchange on Securing Land Rights for People and the Planet

On 27 April 2021, ESCR-Net co-hosted an online discussion on land rights. Over 50 members from across Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, Europe and North America, convened virtually to learn from each other’s experiences and strengthen shared analysis and...

Amicus reaffirms States’ human rights obligations to adequately and effectively address the climate crisis

On May 6^th, several human rights organizations submitted a joint third-party intervention in Duarte Agostinho and others v. Portugal and others, the first climate change case before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). The intervenors drew on international, regional...