Guidelines to Good Practices
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes (A/HRC/36/41) Download report here: Good Practice Guidelines Over the past several decades, many States have made welcome progress in reducing the impacts of toxics. However, this progress…
United Kingdom, 2017
Report of the Special Rapporteur on his mission to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (A/HRC/36/41/Add.2) Table of Contents Introduction Governance Overview Consequences…
Sierra Leone, 2017
Report to be presented to UN Human Rights Council in September 2018 Key issues: Industrial chemical, pesticide, and waste management in least developed countries; poverty and pollution; child rights and toxic exposures to hazardous substances; pollution from extractive industries and palm oil production; and business responsibilities. End-of-visit statement 25 August…
Chemical disaster fear in Eastern Ukraine prompts UN expert to raise alarm
GENEVA (10 March 2017) – A United Nations human rights expert is warning against the threat of catastrophic chemical disaster due to the armed conflict in Eastern Ukraine. “Large chemical and industrial facilities are in areas where fighting is ongoing”, said Baskut Tuncak, the Special Rapporteur on human rights and…
Pesticides are “global human rights concern”, say UN experts urging new treaty
GENEVA (7 March 2017) – Two United Nations experts are calling for a comprehensive new global treaty to regulate and phase out the use of dangerous pesticides in farming, and move towards sustainable agricultural practices. They say: “excessive use of pesticides are very dangerous to human health, to the environment…
Pesticides and the Right to Food
Pesticides and right to food In a new report by the Special Rapporteur on Food, Dr. Hilal Elver, written in collaboration with the Special Rapporteur on Toxics, a clearer account is provided of global pesticide use in agriculture and its impact on human rights; the negative consequences that pesticide practices have…
Toxic air pollution: UN rights experts urge tighter rules to combat “invisible threat”
GENEVA (24 February 2017) – United Nations human rights experts are calling for strong, urgent action by States, including legislation and enforcement of corporate accountability, to try to ensure that people around the world can enjoy the human rights to life and health in environments free from contamination. “Air pollution…
U.K. Mission – End of Mission Statement
End-of-visit statement by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights and hazardous substances and wastes, Baskut Tuncak on his visit to the United Kingdom, 17 – 31 January 2017 (click for OHCHR link) 31 January 2017 In my capacity as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights and…
UN rights expert launches first official visit to the UK
GENEVA (16 January 2017) – United Nations expert Baskut Tuncak will visit the United Kingdom from 17 to 31 January to assess the country’s human rights record in relation to the life cycle of hazardous substances and waste, from their manufacturing to their final disposal. “During my first visit to…