Environmental Human Rights Defenders: Responding to a Global Crisis

The Permanent Mission of Spain, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Environment Program, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment, and the Universal Rights Group are pleased to invite you to a side event during HRC34 on: Environmental Human Rights Defenders: Responding to a Global Crisis

Open, public event

Simultaneous interpretation English-Spanish

A light lunch will be served

Draft programme

Chair:
H.E. Ms Ana María Menéndez Pérez, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Spain

Panel discussion:
Professor John Knox, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment, Member of the Board of Trustees, Universal Rights Group
Michel Forst, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders
Barbara Ruis, Legal Officer, UN Environment (UNEP) Marc Limon, Director, Universal Rights Group

Objectives

• Raise the profile of the situation of environmental human rights defenders.
• Move the international human rights community, especially members of the Human Rights Council, towards a greater understanding of that situation, and towards a greater determination to improve support for the work of EHRDs and protection of their rights.
• Launch new URG Policy Report, authored by Professor John Knox, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment, on the global situation of EHRDs.
• Present the Special Rapporteur’s recommendations to policymakers and policyinfluencers.
• Launch new online resource portal for EHRDs – www.environment-rights.org. The portal has been created by the UN Special Rapporteur, URG, Not One More (N1M) and Global Witness, following proposals made by EHRDs themselves during consultations in Europe and Asia. Its development was made possible thanks to the generous support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Spain.