Photo: Le Tan Olu/Unsplash

Another process has been underway to support the consideration of indigenous peoples and local communities’ needs, priorities and interests in the post-2020 global biodiversity framework. The Third Global Thematic Dialogue for Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, held from 2 – 3 August and 5 – 6 August 2021, provided the opportunity for indigenous peoples and local communities, together with Party representatives, to identify and discuss key legal, policy and institutional issues related to the first draft of the post-2020 framework. The aim of the Third Dialogue was to enable the development of concrete and constructive inputs for the consideration of the third meeting of the Open-ended Working Group on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, which was held from 23 August to 3 September 2021. The Open-ended Working Group was the first opportunity for Parties and observers to the Convention on Biological Diversity to provide views on the first draft of the post-2020 framework. Over 275 participants took part in the four-day thematic dialogue on indigenous peoples and local communities, which considered the reflection of traditional knowledge, customary sustainable use, equitable participation and the contribution of indigenous peoples and local communities’ lands, territories and waters towards area-based conservation targets in the first draft of the framework. Mr. Francisco Calí Tzay, Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, was invited to address the Dialogue. Mr. Calí stressed that a right-based approach includes applying international human rights instruments, including the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Likewise, panellist Mr. Delfin Ganapin, Global Leader of the WWF’s Governance Practice, provided a summary of the recent report on The state of Indigenous Peoples’ and Local Communities’ lands and territories.

The processes underway to develop a new gender plan of action and support the consideration of indigenous peoples and local communities’ inputs into the first draft of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework are important steps to reinforce the recognition and implementation of a rights-based approach in achieving the agreed goals and targets of the framework. Building the understanding and commitment of Parties and observer organizations is a key ingredient in ensuring that ambitious and transformative change for biodiversity can uphold and strengthen the fulfilment of human rights.

To Conserve Nature, Protect Human Rights

By John H. Knox, Professor of Law, Wake Forest University, former Independent Expert and Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment (2012 – 2018)

Under the auspices of the Convention on Biological Diversity, States are negotiating a new Global Biodiversity Framework, with goals for 2030 and beyond. One of the highest-profile proposed goals is the adoption of a 30x30 target, according to which each country would designate 30% of its territory as protected natural areas by 2030.

As States move forward, they should constantly bear in mind that the global environmental crisis is also a human rights crisis. The triple threats of biodiversity loss, climate breakdown, and pervasive pollution undermine our ability to enjoy many human rights, including the right to life itself. At the same time, crackdowns on rights of freedom of expression and association punish those who fight to protect the environment. Of the 331 human rights defenders killed in 2020, more than two in three were defenders of environmental rights.

While these intertwined crises affect us all, indigenous peoples and others who depend directly on natural ecosystems are especially at risk. The lands of indigenous peoples account for more than one-third of the remaining natural ecosystems, and at least 40% of the world’s protected areas. They are regularly killed or harassed for defending the forests and rivers of their homes against unsustainable and illegal mining, logging and poaching.

The starting point for efforts to conserve nature should therefore be to help indigenous peoples, and other traditional communities living in natural ecosystems, to safeguard their lands. Historically, however, governments and conservation organizations have often pursued “fortress conservation”, in which the ideal national park was one without human beings. The history of many national parks and other protected areas involves the violent exclusion of native peoples.

Treating indigenous peoples and local communities as part of the problem not only violates their human rights; it also undermines efforts to protect the environment. As many studies demonstrate, recognizing and protecting the rights of indigenous peoples and other traditional communities in their forests and rivers usually does more to conserve natural ecosystems than governmental control.

In recent years, governments and conservation organizations have pledged to reject the fortress conservation model. But their actions have often failed to match their words. They have continued to create new protected areas by displacing their inhabitants, and when they have tried to return to their homes, park authorities have arrested them – or worse. Credible reports have described allegations of murder, rape, and torture by rangers of people living in and around national parks in central Africa and South Asia.

Photo: Aaron Cass/Unsplash

That means that, at a minimum, protected areas and other conservation initiatives must recognize and respect the title, tenure, access, and management rights of indigenous peoples and local communities in their collective lands and territories, including the right of free, prior, and informed consent to any actions that affect them. Rangers must be trained to international standards and subject to effective review and accountability. Local residents must have access to independent mechanisms that can receive complaints of, and provide remedies for, violations. Park authorities and conservation organizations must report publicly on how they are meeting human rights norms.

Governments and organizations that fund, plan, and/or implement conservation projects have obligations to consult closely with indigenous peoples and local communities to ensure that their rights are fully protected. Funders should only support projects that meet these baseline standards, and they should provide far more support directly to indigenous and local conservation organizations.

In short, to conserve nature, governments must first protect the rights of those who are on the front lines of conservation.

International Indian Treaty Council Provisional* Position regarding plans for the creation of “protected” and “conservation” areas within the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework

"The Black Hills National Forest is within the 1851 or 1868 Ft. Laramie Treaty territory which are claimed by the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ Oyáte. Until that claim is resolved, none of the lands within that territory, including Ȟe Sápa, should or can be considered or used by the United States for inclusion in US President Joseph Biden’s 30x30 plan under which he commits to a goal of conserving at least 30 percent of US lands and oceans by 2030 (Executive Order No. 14008, Section 216 - January 27, 2021) to meet the framework proposal set forth in the United Nation’s Convention on Biodiversity (First Draft of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, CBD/WG2020/3/3, Part G.12.1, p. 6 - Target 3). That territory is that of the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ Oyáte, not the United States of America"

- From a policy paper requested by IITC by Andrew Reed, attorney for the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ Oyáte, August 2021

The International Indian Treaty Council (IITC) has developed a position paper explaining their views in relation to the creation of “protected” and “conservation” areas within the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). Target 3 of the GBF first draft calls to protect “30x30” - at least 30% of land and oceans by 2030: “Ensure that at least 30 per cent globally of land areas and of sea areas, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and its contributions to people, are conserved through effectively and equitably managed, ecologically representative and well-connected systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures, and integrated into the wider landscapes and seascapes.”

The IITC has put forward the below 9 key messages in this regard.

The rights-based advocacy efforts by IITC and other Indigenous Peoples organizations was instrumental in achieving the inclusion of references to the rights of Indigenous Peoples and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Motion 101 which was adopted by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) on 10 September 2021, during the World Conservation Congress.

The much-anticipated motion to protect at least 30% of land and ocean by 2030, Motion 101, calls on IUCN members to support, inter alia: “the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples and work towards the implementation of all protection, conservation and restoration activities with the free, prior, and informed consent of indigenous peoples, and with appropriate recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples to their lands, territories and resources, as set out under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), and full respect for their diverse knowledge systems.”

Photo: Dulcey Lima/Unsplash

I. Indigenous Peoples were not included in the development of the “30 by 30” policy, aka the “Leaders’ Pledge of Nature”, currently endorsed by Heads of State and Government from 88 countries from all regions. It was developed and endorsed without the participation and the Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) of the Indigenous Peoples who will be impacted.

II. IITC opposes the inclusion of ANY Indigenous lands, as defined in Article 26 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, in this 30%. These must instead be designated from other wilderness lands and waters where tenure or ownership is not disputed or claimed by Indigenous Peoples.

III. Based on the right to self-determination affirmed in both Article 3 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and Article 1 in common in the Human Rights Conventions, Indigenous Peoples have the right to decide for themselves if any of their traditionally owned, occupied, used or otherwise acquired lands or resources will be designated as protected areas; free of extractive industries, timber and/or agribusiness.

IV. Such Indigenous Peoples’ protected areas will be accompanied by the full and unqualified legal recognition of their land tenure and title, as affirmed in Article 26 paragraph 3 and Article 37 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

V. The protected areas established within Indigenous Peoples lands will be administered by the Indigenous Peoples themselves in accordance with their own traditions, laws and customs, with protections in place to safeguard traditional livelihoods, food systems, cultural and ceremonial access and practices, and other sustainable uses as designated by the Indigenous Peoples in question.

VI. These protected areas will be formally and legally recognized by both states and relevant UN bodies and processes on an equal basis as other protected areas.

VII. Adequate and equitable funding for the administration and maintenance of these Indigenous Protected Areas will be provided to the relevant Indigenous Peoples by the 30 by 30 program, considering the commitments affirmed in Article 41 of the UN Declaration.

VIII. These rights and principles will also apply regarding other UN processes as well as national projects in which Indigenous Peoples’ lands, territories and/or resources are being considered, for example, for the establishment of cultural heritage sites (i.e., by UNESCO), forest carbon offsets projects (under Article 6 of the UNFCCC “Paris Rulebook) or other such programs.

IX. Therefore, prior to the adoption and implementation of the 30x30 and all related policies and programs on the national and international levels, IITC calls for the inclusion of language to safeguard the internationally recognized minimum standard for the rights of Indigenous Peoples as follows: “Nothing in this policy can be construed as diminishing or extinguishing the rights of Indigenous Peoples as affirmed in the United Nations Declaration on the Right of Indigenous Peoples.”

* The position is considered provisional pending approval at the IITC Conference in Guatemala, November - December 2021.

“We recently protested in the far north against local governments designation of Māori lands as being ‘Significant Natural Areas’. We have more than 150,000 acres of ancestral lands still in Māori tenure in our region of Te Tai Tokerau. It’s natural for us to foster our forests and wetlands but after 170 years of being pressured to drain swamps for industrial agriculture and forestry we were not going to support local government to be the guardians of biodiversity. That should be with those who hold forests, waterways, the earth, and the sky as sacred. The local government agreed to stop the SNAs. We are promoting indigenous principles and building our capacity to prepare for more international and national pressures around biodiversity…”

- Tui Shortland, Māori Food Sovereignty and Traditional Knowledge Protector, Aotearoa (New Zealand), August 9, 2021

GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS

Historic global recognition of the right to a healthy environment by the Human Rights Council

On 8 October the Human Rights Council adopted a landmark resolution (A/HRC/48/13*) recognizing the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, an important step in securing enjoyment for all people of a safe and stable climate, healthy ecosystems, a non-toxic environment, and access to justice and participation in environmental matters. The resolution was tabled by the core group of Costa Rica, the Maldives, Morocco, Slovenia, and Switzerland. High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet hailed its adoption and called on States to take bold actions to give prompt and real effect to this right and paid tribute to the diverse array of civil society organizations and others worldwide who had advocated for its recognition. In a statement, UNEP Executive Director, Inger Andersen, welcomed the resolution and stated expectations for this resolution to embolden governments, legislators, courts, and citizen groups in pursuing substantial elements of the Common Agenda for renewed solidarity, as well as the 2020 Call to Action on Human Rights. She also encouraged Member States to consider a similar resolution at the General Assembly.

Human Rights Council creates a new Special Rapporteur on climate change

At its 48th Session, the Human Rights Council adopted Resolution 48/14* creating the mandate of a Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change. The resolution, advanced by a core group of the Bahamas, the European Union, Fiji, the Marshall Islands, Panama, Paraguay, and Sudan reflects the result of more than a decade of advocacy by an array of actors including States, the Climate Vulnerable Forum, civil society, and indigenous organizations. The new mandate-holder who will be appointed at the 49th Session of the Council in March 2022 will play a key role in advancing global efforts to address the negative human rights impacts of climate change and promote rights-based climate action.

*Resolution will be available after processing and translation

UN Human Rights Council 48th session – High Commissioner Opening Statement

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet focused her global update to the 48th session of the UN Human Rights Council on the triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss calling for leadership by the Council’s member states to tackle the interlocked crises and advance rights-based environmental action.

UN Child Rights Committee rules that countries bear cross-border responsibility for harmful impact of climate change

In a historic ruling on the harmful effects of climate change on children’s rights, the Child Rights Committee has found that a State party can be held responsible for the negative impact of its carbon emissions on the rights of children both within and outside its territory.

Step Up! – Joint Commitment

Heads of United Nations Entities have affirmed their joint commitment to promoting the right of children, youth and future generations to a healthy environment and their meaningful participation in decision-making at all levels, in relation to climate action and climate justice. The Joint Commitment was developed by a dedicated Task Force as part of the action area on rights of future generations and climate justice of the UN Secretary-General’s Call to Action for Human Rights.

UN Human Rights Council 47th session

Photo: Chrissie Giann/Unsplash

Also at its 47th session, the Human Rights Council adopted a new resolution on human rights and climate change. The new resolution, A/HRC/RES/47/24 requests the Secretary-General to prepare a report on the adverse impact of climate change on the human rights of people in vulnerable situations, to be submitted to the 50th Session of the Council, which will also hold a panel discussion on the topic. The resolution also encourages continued discussion by States on the potential establishment of a new Special Procedure mandate on human rights and climate change. OHCHR has prepared a questionnaire to inform the report, to which inputs are welcome until 30 November 2021.

First Global Meeting of the Montevideo National Focal Points

The Montevideo Programme V is a flagship programme for UNEP and our Member States to strengthen environmental rule of law across the globe,’ stated Ms. Inger Andersen, the Executive Director of UNEP, in her opening remarks during the Online Session of the First Global Meeting of National Focal Points under the Fifth Programme for the Development and Periodic Review of Environmental Law (Montevideo Programme V).

Over 200 national focal points and stakeholders joined forces during the three-day online session, held from 2-4 June 2021. The First Global Meeting of National Focal Points marked the official launch of UNEP’s Law and Environment Assistance Platform (LEAP) to promote information exchange and support the delivery of the Programme. Furthermore, it achieved three main outcomes:

• Based on a survey shared with all national focal points in January, as well as the thematic, foundational, and enabling subprogrammes of the UNEP medium-term strategy for 2022-2025, the Secretariat outlined eight proposed priority areas for implementation, outlining ‘legal responses to address the air pollution crisis’ as an initial priority area. Delegations broadly supported and adopted this initial priority area, stressing its importance at national, regional, and international levels.
• Additionally, national focal points designated fifteen representatives to serve on the first Steering Committee for Implementation, covering all five United Nations Regional Groups of Member States. The Steering Committee began its work at the closure of the first meeting and will continue doing so until the end of the Second Global Meeting.
• Lastly, national focal points adopted the draft modalities of work of the Steering Committee. These include, inter alia, information on the term of office and vacancies, provisions regarding the meetings of the Steering Committee, and reporting requirements.

Photo: Gangajit Singh/UN Women

Participants from UNEP ROAP and OHCHR SEARO were then invited to discuss pertinent questions regarding biodiversity and human rights in breakout rooms, which resulted in various practical recommendations for UNEP and OHCHR's work plan. These include ensuring an emphasis on Free, Prior, and Informed Consent at all stages of project implementation, ensuring accessibility of information in local languages and meaningful participation, alongside effective redress mechanisms.

This was followed by the launch of the UNEP Asia Pacific Staff Capacity Building Plan for Gender Equality and Human Rights (2021-2023) by Annette Wallgren and Georgina Lloyd. This plan aims to strengthen the capacity of all UNEP staff to address and incorporate Human Rights Based Approaches and gender equality considerations within their projects. The session concluded with remarks from Isabelle and Katia, who restated the importance of a collective approach in biodiversity conservation.

By the river side: Supporting indigenous and afro descendant communities protecting the environment in Colombia

OHCHR in Colombia has assisted the work of indigenous and afro descendant authorities and communities protecting the environment in Colombia, particularly river basins, which are essential to their cultural and physical survival. Their cause is essential to protect the rich biological and cultural diversity of Colombia.

Taking into account the right to participation and the need for meaningful consultations and free, prior and informed consent, OHCHR-Colombia has accompanied and strengthened traditional afro-descendant authorities of Cocomacia, in the Department of Chocó, in the Colombian Pacific region, to issue a Protocol for the Relationship with third parties. This self-government instrument conceives the river as the central element of the culture and physical survival of indigenous and afro descendant authorities and communities. The Protocol helps ancestral peoples to protect their territory from interference, even from armed actors. Cocomacia, the largest Community Council administering some of the ancestral territories of afro descendants in the rainforest of Chocó, settled along the Atrato river and its tributaries.

Photo: Curioso Photography/Unsplash

La Guajira, territory of Wayuu peoples, is the largest desert in Colombia. The Bruno Stream, a main source of water has a profound spiritual meaning for them and for neighbouring afro-descendant communities. For decades leaders of the Wayuu peoples have led the cause for the protection of the Bruno, which is linked to their food security, health, medicine and spiritual believes. OHCHR has focused its efforts in protecting the leaders who have suffered intimidations and threats and the right of their communities to prior, free and informed consultation.

Empowering action on environment and climate justice in Asia and the Pacific

The Pacific Climate Justice Summit 2021, organized by Pacific Islands Climate Action Network and supported by partner organizations including OHCHR, took place on 3-4 August 2021. The Summit opened with messages from H.E. Nazhat Shameem Khan, President of the Human Rights Council and Permanent Representative of Fiji to the UN in Geneva; Ms. Emeline Siale Ilolahia, Executive Director of Pacific Islands Association of Non-Governmental Organisations; and Patrick Rooney, a.i. Deputy Regional Representative of OHCHR Pacific Regional Office. Discussion themes included just recovery, a shared vision of climate justice in the Pacific approaching COP 26, gender equality and intersectional approaches, loss and damage, climate finance, nature-based solutions, and oceans.

Photo: Raphael Pouget/Climate Visuals Countdown

Call for the establishment of a loss and damage finance facility with new, additional and predictable finance, channelled effectively to those who need it most. Further emphasis is needed on how to effectively use climate finance for grassroots change.

On 14-15 June 2021, OHCHR Pacific Regional Office (ROP) and UNEP Asia and the Pacific Office jointly organized a virtual workshop on Environmental human rights defenders in the Pacific region: Strengthening environmental and human rights protection. The aim of the workshop was to share experiences and good practices, identifying protection gaps in protecting and promoting the rights of environmental human rights defenders (EHRD), while building bridges between Asia and Pacific EHRD networks to provide peer-to-peer learning through sharing past activities and experiences. Key take-aways and suggestions include establishing a strong network of environmental human rights defenders in the wider region, establishing substantive data collection schemes and protective laws, empowering children and youth defenders, including women environmental human rights defenders in decision-making processes, guaranteeing free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples, highlighting the due diligence of states and businesses, and continuing to build upon the dialogue at all scales.

The workshop built upon an earlier workshop on Pacific indigenous peoples and climate crisis – leveraging lessons from the frontlines, and sought to increase understanding and awareness of the detrimental climate crisis impacts on indigenous peoples in the Pacific region through sharing case studies, information and ideas in order to strengthen the network of Pacific indigenous peoples, communities, and partners working for the protection and promotion of indigenous peoples’ human rights affected by the climate crisis and environmental degradation.

To provide support for defenders and other human rights partners in the Pacific region, OHCHR ROP has partnered with Diplomacy Training Program and other partners to develop a 4-week course aimed at building knowledge and capacity to promote business respect for human rights and sustainable development in the Pacific. The course includes a session on climate change, business, and human rights, highlighting the importance of taking a human rights-based approach to the climate crisis.

Guinea: pursuing a healthy environment and development for human rights

On 13 July 2021, Guinea hosted the third in a series of discussions known as the Hernán Santa Cruz Dialogues, under the sponsorship of President Alpha Condé and with the support of OHCHR, which inaugurated the dialogue series in October 2020. The dialogue is named after Hernán Santa Cruz, a Chilean diplomat who was an early architect of the UN human rights system. He was also one of the drafters of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and helped to ensure the inclusion of economic and social rights in the Declaration.

One of the themes under discussion at this year’s conference was the link between the right to development, climate change and environmental protection. The High Commissioner for Human Rights commended Guinea for including the right to a healthy environment in its Constitution, and further encouraged the country to take “measures to effectively promote that right as a key factor in fulfilling the promise of sustainable development,” as well as implement “laws and regulations that are grounded in human rights to help address challenges resulting from climate change, soil erosion and extractive industries.”

OHCHR Regional Office for the Pacific at the virtual Youth4Pacific: Pre-COP Gathering

On 23-24 September 2021, OHCHR Regional Office for the Pacific participated in the virtual Youth4Pacific: Pre-COP Gathering, organized by the United Kingdom and other regional entities. The gathering of youth from around the Pacific sought to discuss priorities and share ideas ahead of COP26. The event provided an opportunity for youth coordination across the region and to strengthen collaboration between the COP26 Presidency (United Kingdom) and Pacific youths. OHCHR organized a session on Integrating human rights at the centre of youth climate action, in which the vitality of youth voice and action in addressing the climate emergency and taking an active role in the discussions was highlighted. OHCHR moderated the session on clean energy and sustainable transport, contributing to the outcome statement for the event. OHCHR was also represented in a session co-organized by partners of the joint Pacific Climate Change Migration and Human Security (PCCM-HS) programme (IOM, ESCAP, ILO and OHCHR) on Climate related mobility in the Pacific: What should we take forward at COP-26? The PCCM-HS session highlighted issues related to climate change-related mobility, migration, displacement and planned relocation in the Pacific region – including as related to the Cancun Adaptation Framework and the Warsaw International Mechanism on Loss and Damage.

RECENT AND UPCOMING ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS

High Level Event: Women’s Rights, Gender Equality and the Future of Biodiversity: Gender considerings in the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework

OHCHR co-sponsored the High-level Event Women’s Rights, Gender Equality and the Future of Biodiversity: Advancing gender considerations in the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, co-hosted by the Government of Costa Rica and Women4Biodiversity among others. The event took place during the opening day of the Fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) which opened from 11 to 15 October 2021 and has been suspended until 25 April-8 May 2022 in Kunming, China.

Dialogue Series: The Escazú Agreement, Human Rights and Healthy Ecosystems - 18, 19 and 27 October 2021

In partnership with the Stockholm University, UNDP's Regional Hub for Latin America, UNEP and OHCHR, the UNDP Environmental Governance Programme is convening a dialogue series on the implementation of the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean (Escazú Agreement). The Escazú Agreement entered into force on Earth Day 2021 after being ratified by half of its 24 signatory countries. This dialogue series will seek to catalyse action to implement the Escazú Agreement in synergy with the SDGs and biodiversity-related Multilateral Environmental Agreements. This initiative has been financed by the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida) as part of the Environmental Governance Programme (EGP).

The dialogue series will be held in English, Spanish and Portuguese.

Seminar: France Ecolab Brazil, 5-7 November 2021

The French Embassy in Brazil, in partnership with UNEP, Alliance Française Brésil, Brazil-France Chamber of Commerce, European Union-Brazil, Fondation Tara-Océan, Fundo Casa Socioambiental, Instituto Aqualung, Serrapilheira, L'IRD au Brésil and UNESCO, will promote a closure seminar of France Ecolab Brazil project, in Rio de Janeiro, on November 5-7. Ten finalists will pitch their projects in the ceremony and compete for seed capital, sponsored by ENGIE and L’Oréal Brasil. The 2021 edition of France Ecolab Brazil aims to train and inspire young environmental defenders to ban plastic pollution.

Asia-Pacific Environmental Human Rights Defenders Forum, 17-19 November 2021

OHCHR’s Regional Offices for South-East Asia and for the Pacific are co-organizing the Asia-Pacific Environmental Human Rights Defenders Forum on 17-19 November 2021, jointly with the Asia Pacific Network for Environment Defenders (APNED), Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-Asia), Earth Rights International, Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP), Asia Research Institute for Environmental Law (ARIEL) and Diplomacy Training Program (DTP). The Forum aims to present and analyze the situation of environmental human rights defenders in the region, to formulate recommendations to address challenges, to have a learning exchange of good practices, and to increase knowledge on ways to improve the situation of environmental human rights defenders.

Women's Environmental Defenders Forum, 17-19 November 2021

Photo: Debarshi Mukherjee/Climate Visuals Countdown

OUR COMMON AGENDA Report of the Secretary-General

“Our Common Agenda” report looks ahead to the next 25 years and represents the Secretary-General’s vision on the future of global cooperation and reinvigorating inclusive, networked, and effective multilateralism. The Secretary-General presented his report to the General Assembly in September 2021 before the end of the 75th session of the General Assembly.