
Environment and Human Rights
People around the world increasingly experience the devastating effects of environmental crises – from extreme weather, food insecurity, and health issues linked to water and air pollution, to the loss of land, biodiversity, and livelihoods. Inadequate regulation and enforcement of environmentally destructive sectors of the economy – including agricultural commodities, mining, and heavily polluting fossil-fuel industries – drives human rights violations. Governments still fall short of urgent and ambitious actions to keep global warming below 1.5 degree Celsius and prevent further devastation to the global environment. The primary victims of environmental harm are often impoverished and marginalized communities with limited opportunity to meaningfully participate in decision-making and public debate on environmental issues, and have little access to independent courts to achieve accountability and redress. Activists and ordinary citizens defending their rights to land and the environment face intimidation, legal harassment, and deadly violence. Human Rights Watch champions human rights law to force governments to protect people and prevent corporations from continuing to cause extreme environmental degradation.
Videos
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“The Sea is Eating the Land Below Our Homes”
Indigenous Community Facing Lack of Space and Rising Seas Plans Relocation
News
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Yemen: Warring Parties Deepen Water Crisis
Government, Houthi Abuses in Taizz Have Led to Severe Lack of Water
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Phasing Out Fossil Fuels at COP28
Governments Should Stand up for Human Rights to Ensure Ambitious Outcome
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Pakistan’s Air Pollution Shortens Lives
Improving Air Quality is Government’s Human Rights Obligation
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UAE’s COP28 Promises on Climate, Health Ignored at Home
Country’s Migrant Workers Face Climate-Related Harms to Their Well-Being
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COP 28 Should Amplify Voices of Disability Rights Activists
Those Most Affected by Climate Change Should Guide Response
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COP28: Migrant Rights Essential to Climate Action
Governments Should Confront COP28 Host UAE on Abuses
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Heat at COP28 Highlights Risks to Migrant Workers
As Climate Conference Opens, Ensure Occupational Heat Protections
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Climate Inaction Not an Option for Maldives at COP28
New President Plans “Fortress-like” Walls to Counter Rising Sea Level
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