2. Advocating at the international level - UN human rights mechanisms

The Treaty Bodies are committees of human rights experts that monitor how States implement core international human rights treaties and their optional protocols. Learn more about them with the following video:

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Can't watch the video? A transcript with main takeaways is available here.

A list of all Treaty Bodies and contact details can be found here.

Tip!

Before going into detail, check our training module on Treaty Bodies in our ISHR Academy.

You can engage with this quasi-judicial mechanism in various ways. However, the starting point for any of them is the treaty they are mandated to monitor. While there is no 'environmental rights treaty' or a treaty body specialised in the environment, there are different ways to incorporate the environmental dimension of your advocacy within the scope of the work of Treaty Bodies. The right to a healthy environment could be protected through existing human rights treaties. Treaty body members have also published 'general comments', which are interpretations of the provisions of each major treaty they oversee, and of scope of the obligations they place on States, which can include in environmental matters. You just need to connect the dots: Make a case showing how pollution is linked to the Right to Health under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), how land grabs violate Indigenous Rights under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), or how silencing and attacking environmental defenders violates Freedom of Expression under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

Let’s now look at what you can do with the Treaty Bodies as an EHRD.

The tool: Information on upcoming reviews, ratifications, general comments, and related matters can be found in the Treaty Bodies database.

Step 1: Map Your Strategy

Before engaging, ask three questions:

1. Which treaties did my country ratify? Which Optional Protocols is my country a Party to? (Check the OHCHR Ratification Database). You can only use Treaty Bodies for treaties to which your State is a signatory.

2. Which rights are being violated? Don’t limit yourself to 'the environment'.

   • Toxic waste? Right to health (ICESCR)?
   • Violence against environmental human rights defenders? Right to life & freedom from torture (ICCPR)?
   • Displacement of Indigenous peoples? Racial Discrimination (CERD)?

3. Who is affected? Use an intersectional lens. Is the victim a woman? A child? An Indigenous elder? Specific treaties (CEDAW, CRC, CERD) offer stronger protections for these groups.

Tip!

Combine treaties! A mining project might violate the CERD (Indigenous rights), ICESCR (right to water), and ICCPR (right to life) simultaneously. Engaging with various treaty bodies can help you to speak about the array of rights that have been violated. Your State is periodically reviewed by the Treaty Bodies monitoring each treaty it has ratified, but not all reviews happen at the same time. Engaging with these reviews is also a way to map progress and follow up on recommendations from one treaty body to another.

A comprehensive list of human rights treaties and a table of relevant provisions and relevant general comments on environmental matters is available here. Head to the next section for a focus on ICESCR and CERD.

Step 2: Concrete ways to engage

Once you’ve identified the relevant treaties, here are four powerful actions you can take:

1. Build your advocacy based on general comments prepared by Treaty Bodies

   • Refer to them in your reports, press releases, and meetings with officials. They interpret the scope of existing legal obligations and therefore provide an authoritative source for advocacy.
   • Example: When analysing the human rights obligations in the construction and operation of a dam, you could refer to the General Comment No.15 (right to water) to incorporate the State’s obligation in relation to the right to water as a component to the right to an adequate standard of living.

2. Influence new standards (respond to calls for inputs)

   • Opportunity: When Treaty Bodies draft new general comments, they ask civil society for inputs. This is an opportunity to make sure that these comments reflect regional and national developments, but also that they respond to the realities on the ground.
   • Action: Subscribe to the OHCHR Civil Society Newsletter or view this page to respond to these calls.
   • Example: Civil society inputs were crucial in shaping General Comment No. 26 on land and Indigenous Peoples, ensuring it reflected their priorities and realities.

3. Submit alternative ('shadow') reports during the periodic review of a specific State

   • The process: Every 5–8 years, each Treaty Body reviews State parties. Governments submit a report trying to argue that they comply with their obligations. You can submit different inputs and even meet with the committees ahead of a review. Find an overview of this process here and get more specific information on the different Treaty Bodies webpages on the OHCHR website, on the Civil society newsletter, on the Treaty Bodies database, or by asking a specialised NGO.
   • Impact: Committee members use your information and inputs to question State officials directly.
   • Example: Ahead of the CERD review, Indigenous groups from Guatemala submitted a shadow report detailing forced evictions and the impact of business activities on the environment and Indigenous' rights . The Committee then questioned the government on these issues and made specific recommendations to the State.
   • Tactic: Join coalitions! A joint report from 20 NGOs carries more weight than a solo submission.

Tip!

The Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) has developed a short and comprehensive briefing on how to engage before, during and after a review when working on climate change issues.

4. File complaints and trigger emergencies
   • Individual communications: If your country has ratified relevant Optional Protocols accepting the competence of Treaty Bodies, you can file individual complaints related to the human rights obligations of the State related to the relevant Treaty Body. An individual complaint is similar to a complaint in a judicial court, requiring you to write a submission setting out how your rights under the covenant were violated. Click here to review the process.
     • Note: This process is long - in some cases lasting up to 5 years or more - but it results in binding legal rulings. The Human Rights Committee has vast jurisprudence and it is the most used among the Treaty Bodies, but there are also other examples at the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

Defender Story

Two ways of successfully using individual communications

Indigenous Sámi communities in Finland challenged mining permits granted on their traditional lands without proper consultation and without their free, prior and informed consent. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights found that this violated their right to culture and participation. It confirmed that Indigenous livelihoods like reindeer herding are protected as part of cultural rights. The case shows that approving extractive projects without meaningful consultation can breach international human rights law.

A person from Kiribati sought asylum in New-Zealand explaining that climate change impacts in their home country made it unsafe to return. The Human Right Committee, which monitors the application of the ICCPR, recognised that environmental degradation and climate change can threaten fundamental rights like life and dignity. It found that States must assess these risks carefully when making deportation decisions. Information on upcoming reviews, ratifications, general comments, and related matters can be found in the Treaty Bodies database.

Let’s now focus on 2 treaties that are particularly important for EHRDs: ICESCR and CERD.