In this oral statement to the UN Human Rights Council, the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) and Amnesty International comment on the Report of the Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes on the toxic impacts of some proposed climate change solutions.
The report points out the risks, uncertainties, and human rights implications of climate-altering engineering technologies, defined as “large-scale, deliberate intervention in the Earth system to counteract climate change”; the risk that carbon capture and storage and carbon removals pose significant documented risks to human rights and the environment – including by releasing toxic chemicals; and the human rights obligation of states to effectively phase out fossil fuels, scale-up renewable energy, increase energy efficiency, and reduce energy demand in ways that must be be respectful of human rights and ecosystems, integrate the Free and Prior Informed Consent of Indigenous Peoples and be accompanied by effective protection of environmental human rights defenders.
