A joint initiative with WCL's泭Center for Human Rights & Humanitarian Law泭and泭Program on Environmental and Energy Law, the Global Toxics & Human Rights Project leverages partnerships with a broad coalition of stakeholders to provide technical assistance, strategic planning, case support, advocacy, awareness raising, and standard setting. The Project also builds on 51勛圖 Washington College of Law's (51勛圖WCL) specialized knowledge and experience in environmental justice and supporting UN mandates to enrich the work of UN Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights professor, Marcos Orellana.
* All publications of the Global Toxics & Human Rights Project are licensed to the public subject to the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
, the Special Rapporteur on human rights and toxics, invites all individuals, organizations and States interested in issues related to access to justice and effective remedies in the context of toxics to provide input for the preparation of the thematic report he will present to the UN Human Rights Council in September 2025.
Please email contributions泭no later than March 4, 2025 00:00 (Geneva time)泭in English, French, or Spanish in Word format to hrc-sr-toxicshr@un.org and indicate泭Input on Access to Justice and Remedies Report in the email subject line. Please limit your contributions to a maximum of 2,500 words and if necessary, provide links to relevant documents or attach annexes.
November 4 2024:泭泭UN Special Rapporteur Marcos Orellana submitted an amicus curiae to the Supreme Federal Court of Brazil in the case challenging the constitutionality of the so-called "poison package" (Law 14.785/2023),泭presenting key international human rights standards related to hazardous substances and human rights and urged Brazil's Supreme Federal泭Court to exercise conventionality control.泭
Every year, the UN Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights, Marcos Orellana, presents two reports on a thematic report of his choosing: one to the UN General Assembly and another to the UN General Assembly. Each report contains in-depth research on a specific topic related to toxics and includes a series of concrete conclusions and recommendations for States, businesses, or the international community. To make these reports accessible to the widest audience, the Global Toxics & Human Rights Project has published online summaries of reports on mercury and small-scale gold mining; the impacts of toxics on Indigenous Peoples; the cycle of plastics and human rights; and the right to science in the context of toxics.
November 5泭2024: 泭UN Special Rapporteur Marcos Orellana presented an oral report to the Constitutional Tribunal of Peru in support of his previously-submitted amicus curiae regarding泭unconstitutionality proceedings concerning泭REINFO, a law that extends the period for mining formalization. The UN Special Rapporteur for toxics and human rights Dr. submitted an amicus curiae in March 2024 urging the tribunal to consider how REINFO has become an instrument that promotes mining activity outside the control of the State, with serious impacts on environmental and human rights including mercury pollution, deforestation, forced displacement of communities, and the violent intimidation of those who oppose organized environmental crimes.
Click here to read Dr. Orellana's statements before the Peruvian constitutional tribunal
