A toxic tidal wave of plastic pollution threatens life on earth by OHCHR, WWF, Greenpeace, agencies   Apr. 2024   8 in 10 people support cut in plastic production. (Greenpeace International)   Eight out of 10 people support cutting plastic production revealed a new Greenpeace International report ahead of the fourth Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC4) meeting for a Global Plastics Treaty to be held in Ottawa, Canada this month. The survey which was conducted across 19 countries also indicates overwhelming public backing for measures aimed at ending single-use plastics and promoting reuse-based solutions.   Key findings include:   82% of respondents support cutting the production of plastic to stop plastic pollution. 80% of respondents advocate for protecting biodiversity and the climate by reducing plastics production. 90% of respondents endorse transitioning away from single-use plastic packaging to reusable and refillable alternatives.   75% of respondents support a ban on single-use plastic packaging. 80% of respondents express concern[1] about the health impacts of plastic on their loved ones and 84% of parents surveyed express concern about the health impacts of plastic on their children.   Graham Forbes, Greenpeace Head of Delegation to the Global Plastics Treaty negotiations and Global Plastics Campaign Lead for Greenpeace USA, said: “The level of public support demonstrated by this survey sends a clear message: the vast majority of people want a Global Plastics Treaty that cuts plastic production and ends single use plastic. It is time for world leaders to listen and rise to the occasion. They must stand up to the fossil fuel industry and deliver a strong and ambitious treaty that represents the will of the people.”   The survey reveals consistent support for ambitious action on plastics across all countries, particularly in the Global South regions where plastic pollution levels are notably high.   A strong majority of people support these measures across all categories, including 60% of respondents who supported the exclusion of lobbyists from the fossil fuel and chemical industries from treaty negotiations.   In several countries there is a significant disconnect between the level of public support for cutting plastic production and the position of their governments on the treaty.   For example, the Indian and Chinese governments oppose limiting the production of plastics, and the Brazilian government does not specify its support for this measure, compared to overwhelming public support to cut production in China of 92%, 89% in Brazil, and 86% in India.   Greenpeace is demanding that the Global Plastics Treaty cuts total plastic production by at least 75% by 2040 to protect biodiversity and ensure that global temperatures stay below 1.5° C. Over 99% of plastic is made from fossil fuels, and with production set to skyrocket, it is a significant driver of climate change.   “We only have two negotiation meetings left – the clock is ticking and we are either heading towards a treaty that will solve the global plastics crisis or end up with a weak treaty that will only let the planet spiral towards disaster. We cannot let the fossil fuel industry dictate the terms of how the world solves a problem that they’ve created. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to solve the plastics crisis – let’s not waste it,” Forbes added.   Government ministers from 173 countries are set to gather at the Shaw Centre in Ottawa, Canada from April 23 to 29, 2024, for the INC4 conference to negotiate a legally binding Treaty. The last negotiation meeting will happen in Busan, South Korea in November 2024. The INC3 meeting in Nairobi, Kenya last November 2023 ended in frustration as low-ambition countries derailed the negotiations, with the talks ending without a mandate to create a first draft of the treaty.   * FAO: Studies have shown we are breathing microplastics, eating microplastics, drinking microplastics, and picking them up through skin contact. Evidence is mounting that they can pose a potential threat to food safety and human health. Scientists have found microplastics in the gut, human heart tissue and blood. They’ve been detected in breast milk, placentas, and developing brains. There is currently research suggesting that microplastics, a complex mix of chemicals, leach chemical compounds during cooking processes.   The enormous climate impact of plastic production, report from GAIA, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory   In advance of the fourth round of United Nations negotiations for an international plastics treaty in Ottawa April 23-29, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) has released a groundbreaking study revealing the enormous climate impact of plastic production. The report’s findings reinforce the importance of the treaty covering the entire life cycle of plastic, from extraction to disposal, as enshrined in the 175-country agreement Resolution 5/14, which forms the basis for the treaty talks. Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) has created a policy brief that shows how rapidly the world must reduce plastic production in time to avert catastrophic warming.   Key Findings:   Plastics’ impact on the climate starts with extraction. To fully capture, measure, evaluate and address the impacts of plastic pollution, assessment and regulatory controls must consider the complete lifecycle, beginning with extraction.   Growth in plastic production alone will doom international climate goals. Even if every other source of greenhouse gas emissions – transportation, electricity, agriculture, heavy industry, etc. – were to miraculously and completely decarbonize in 2024, at current growth rates, primary plastic production alone would completely consume the global carbon budget as early as 2060.   Deep, rapid cuts in plastic production are required by the Paris Agreement. To avoid breaching the 1.5°C limit set by the Paris Agreement, primary plastic production must decrease by at least 12% to 17% per year, starting in 2024.   A key tension point in the negotiations thus far is over including ambitious and binding plastic production cuts in the final treaty. The vast majority of countries engaged in the negotiation process have remained open to including production reduction targets in the treaty. However a small but vocal minority, primarily made up of fossil fuel-producing nations, have sought to sabotage the talks through obstruction tactics and by arguing that plastic pollution starts only at the disposal stage. In light of the new data from LBNL, this small group’s obstruction imperils the world’s ability to decarbonize in time to avoid climate disaster.   The petrochemical industry itself has had a significant presence at the negotiations– 143 industry lobbyists registered to attend INC-3, a larger group than any national delegation or civil society organization, and has gained extensive access to government representatives from around the world. Civil society is calling for their removal from further negotiations to avoid conflict of interest.   GAIA Science and Policy Director and Senior Fellow at UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy, Dr. Neil Tangri, states: “While global leaders are trying to negotiate a solution to the plastic crisis, the petrochemical industry is investing billions of dollars in making the problem rapidly worse. We need a global agreement to stop this cancerous growth, bring down plastic production, and usher in a world with less plastic and less pollution.”   Co-author Dr. Sam Adu-Kumi, former Director of the Chemicals Control and Management Centre of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of Ghana, says, “Africa has been one of the most ambitious regions in the plastics treaty negotiations. We recognize the impact of plastic pollution on our people’s health, environment and livelihoods and we know from experience that upstream measures are needed to enable downstream success in combating plastic pollution.”   Co-author Dr. Jorge Emmanuel, Adjunct Professor and Research Faculty Fellow, Siliman University, Dumaguete, Philippines, states, “The Philippines is on the frontlines of both climate change and plastic pollution. Heat waves, powerful typhoons and flooding are getting worse, and the petrochemical industry has displaced our traditional systems with mountains of plastic that poison our communities. Whether the treaty includes plastic production cuts is not just a policy debate. It’s a matter of survival.”   http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press-release/66210/8-in-10-people-support-cut-in-plastic-production-ahead-of-global-plastics-treaty-talks-in-ottawa/ http://www.breakfreefromplastic.org/2024/04/21/march-to-end-the-plastic-era-inc4/ http://wwf.panda.org/act/plastic_pollution_treaty/ http://www.ciel.org/issues/plastic/ http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/fact-sheets/2024/04/04/navigating-the-un-plastics-agreement-pews-recommendations-for-a-global-solution http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/projects/preventing-ocean-plastics http://www.facing-finance.org/2024/04/beneath-the-surface-do-esg-ratings-capture-the-risks-and-impacts-of-plastics/ http://www.no-burn.org/resources/plastics-treaty-climate-imperative http://eta.lbl.gov/publications/climate-impact-primary-plastic http://www.no-burn.org/reactive-plastics-treaty-climate http://www.hrw.org/news/2024/04/18/un-plastics-treaty-should-mandate-protection-human-rights-and-health http://plasticovershoot.earth http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/apr/24/survey-finds-that-60-firms-are-responsible-for-half-of-worlds-plastic-pollution http://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/bioplastics-as-toxic-as-regular-plastics-both-need-regulation-say-researchers/ http://ikhapp.org/material/fact-sheet-bioplastics-biobased-plastics-and-plastics-with-biodegradable-properties-101/   Sep. 2023   Researchers in Japan have discovered microplastics in clouds, raising the specter of super-contaminating "plastic rainfall" and potential impacts to the Earth's climate.   Analyzing cloud water samples from high-altitude mountains in Japan including Mt. Fuji, researchers from Waseda University in Tokyo found nine different types of polymers and one type of rubber in the airborne microplastics (AMPs) they detected.   "Research shows that large amounts of microplastics are ingested or inhaled by humans and animals alike and have been detected in multiple organs such as lung, heart, blood, placenta, and feces," notes the summary of the study, which was published in the journal Environmental Chemistry Letters.   "These findings confirm that AMPs play a key role in rapid cloud formation, which may eventually affect the overall climate," they added.   Accumulation of AMPs in the atmosphere could also upset the planet's ecological balance, with devastating effects on biodiversity.   "AMPs are degraded much faster in the upper atmosphere than on the ground due to strong ultraviolet radiation, and this degradation releases greenhouse gases and contributes to global warming," Waseda University professor Hiroshi Okochi, who led the study, said in a statement. "As a result, the findings of this study can be used to account for the effects of AMPs in future global warming projections."   "If the issue of 'plastic air pollution' is not addressed proactively, climate change and ecological risks may become a reality, causing irreversible and serious environmental damage in the future," Okochi added.   "Ten million tons of these plastic bits end up in the ocean, released with the ocean spray, and find their way into the atmosphere," the summary continues. "This implies that microplastics may have become an essential component of clouds, contaminating nearly everything we eat and drink via 'plastic rainfall.'"   http://www.waseda.jp/top/en/news/78501 http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10311-023-01626-x http://plastichealthcouncil.com/global-plastics-treaty http://plastichealthcouncil.com/ http://insideclimatenews.org/news/18032024/fossil-fuels-toxic-chemicals-deadly-diseases/ http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13197-023-05720-4 http://www.discovermagazine.com/environment/microplastics-are-everywhere-what-are-they-doing-to-our-health http://unece.org/media/news/388691   June 2023   UN experts warn of “toxic tidal wave” as plastic pollutes environment and threatens human rights. (OHCHR)   The world must beat the toxic tidal wave of plastic pollution that threatens human rights, UN experts said today, urging States and other stakeholders to put rights at the centre of the international treaty on plastic pollution currently under negotiation. Ahead of World Environment Day, they issued the following joint statement:   “Plastic production has increased exponentially over recent decades and today the world is generating 400 million tonnes of plastic waste yearly.   All stages of the plastics cycle have adverse impacts on human rights. We are in the middle of an overwhelming toxic tidal wave as plastic pollutes our environment and negatively impacts human rights in a myriad of ways over its life cycle.   For example, plastic production releases hazardous substances and almost exclusively relies on fossil fuels, while plastic itself contains toxic chemicals, posing serious risks and harms to human health, human rights and the environment. At the end of its life as a consumer good, plastic waste pollutes our planet, with 85% of single use plastics sent to landfills or dumped in the environment. False and misleading solutions, such as incineration or recycling of toxics-laden plastics, aggravate the plastic threat.   Plastic, microplastic and the hazardous substances they contain can be found in the food we eat, the water we drink and the air we breathe.   While everyone is affected by the negative human rights impacts of plastic, the level of exposure to plastic-related pollution and waste affects marginalised communities the most. We are particularly concerned about groups suffering from environmental injustices due to heightened exposure to plastic pollution, many of them living in 'sacrifice zones'.   The contribution of plastic pollution to climate change is alarming, yet often overlooked. For instance, plastic particles found in oceans limit the ability of marine ecosystems to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.   It is shocking to witness how the omnipresence of plastics impacts human rights in many different ways, including the rights to a healthy environment, life, health, food, water and an adequate standard of living.   States and businesses have specific human rights obligations which apply in the context of the fight against plastics pollution.   Over the last two years, the United Nations Human Rights Council and the UN General Assembly adopted landmark resolutions recognising the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, which includes non-toxic environments where people can live, work, study and play. This should prompt and guide initiatives addressing plastic pollution.   There is an urgent need to prioritise reduction in production and use of plastic, detoxification and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.   We note the discussions taking place by member States towards a comprehensive and internationally binding instrument on plastic pollution and urge its completion by the end of 2024. It is essential that States and other stakeholders employ a human rights-based approach to beat plastic pollution.”   *The experts: David Boyd, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment; Marcos Orellana, UN Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights.   http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/06/un-experts-warn-toxic-tidal-wave-plastic-pollutes-environment-and-threatens http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2021/10/plastic-pandemic-time-running-out-prevent-human-rights-tragedy-un-expert http://tinyurl.com/3f5mh3dv http://ipen.org/news/latest-science-shows-endocrine-disrupting-chemicals-plastics-pesticides-and-other-sources-pose http://www.unep.org/resources/report/chemicals-plastics-technical-report http://www.unep.org/resources/turning-off-tap-end-plastic-pollution-create-circular-economy http://www.unep.org/events/conference/second-session-intergovernmental-negotiating-committee-develop-international/written-statements#ObserverStatements   http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press-release/63663/un-inc3-ends-in-frustration-as-governments-allow-low-ambition-countries-to-derail-global-plastics-treaty/ http://www.greenpeace.org/international/global-plastics-treaty/ http://www.minderoo.org/plastic-waste-makers-index/#key-findings http://www.greenpeace.org/international/story/63630/global-plastics-treaty-a-lifeline-for-africa/ http://www.ciel.org/news/fossil-fuel-and-chemical-industries-at-inc-3/ http://www.ipcp.ch/activities/ipcp-policy-brief-conflicts-of-interest-in-the-assessment-of-plastics http://ikhapp.org/material/letter-to-intergovernmental-negotiation-committee-inc-from-independent-scientists/   Dec. 2022   Key human rights considerations for the negotiations to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution. (OHCHR)   Our planet is polluted by plastics which contain chemicals that are seriously harmful to people and the environment. Plastics are accumulating in food chains, contaminating water, soil, and air, and releasing hazardous substances into the environment. Most plastics originate as fossil fuels and emit greenhouse gases from cradle to grave. Recent scientific studies have found microplastics in human blood, lungs, and placenta, as well as in livestock feed and milk and meat products.   Exposure to toxic chemicals often found in plastics can also affect future generations, impacting fertility, shortening gestation periods, and lowering birth weights.   Yet, there is still no globally binding agreement to comprehensively address plastic pollution. The plastics cycle has become a global threat to all human rights, including the rights to a healthy environment, life, health, food, water and sanitation, equality and non-discrimination, and housing.   The true cost of plastic production and use is foisted on everyone; however, the plastic crisis has disproportionate impacts on persons, groups and peoples in vulnerable situations such as children, women, Indigenous Peoples, coastal communities, people living in extreme poverty, surrounding communities affected by plastic production facilities, and workers at heightened risk of occupational exposure, including waste-pickers.   These same communities often lack the means for recourse to adequate access to health care, information, and opportunities to protect themselves from exposure to the impacts of the plastics cycle and access to remedy. Yet, the cost of production and use of plastics being imposed on us all has been largely unremarked.   On 2 March 2022, at the resumed fifth session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-5.2), Resolution 5/14 titled “End plastic pollution: towards an international legally binding instrument” was adopted, calling for the development of a legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, with the ambition to complete the negotiations by the end of 2024.   This is a unique opportunity for the international community to stop the contribution of plastics to the triple planetary crisis by establishing a binding framework to protect human rights, including the rights to health and a healthy environment, from plastic pollution.   http://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/climatechange/2022-12-01/OHCHR-inputs-INC1.pdf http://undocs.org/A/76/207 http://tinyurl.com/28zsddy7 http://wwf.panda.org/act/plastic_pollution_treaty/ http://www.hrw.org/news/2023/06/05/role-fossil-fuels-absent-plastics-treaty-negotiations http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405665023000318 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412020322297 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7068600/ http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0304389421028302   Greenpeace International, 174 civil society groups and independent scientists   Plastic pollution has flooded our planet, harming people’s health, accelerating social injustice, destroying biodiversity and fuelling the climate crisis. Indeed scientists at the Stockholm Institute recently alerted the public that plastic pollution had already ‘exceeded safe planetary boundaries,’ threatening the very stability of the earth’s system.   Despite this, the production of virgin plastics - 99% of which are made from oil and gas - is increasing year on year. And with giant fossil fuel and petrochemical companies investing heavily in building yet more production capacity and petrochemical facilities, this growth is set to continue. Indeed, according to industry estimates, plastic production could double within the next 10-15 years, and triple by 2050.   Scientists and civil society groups from around the world agree that it is essential that the UN Plastics Treaty agrees a roadmap for dramatically reducing plastic production, a view already supported by several governments.   It is clear that the fossil fuel lobby is actively working to prevent the Plastics Treaty from containing essential controls on plastic production. It is not just the signatories of this letter who hold this view. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights recently said “There is a fundamental and irreconcilable conflict between the interests of the plastics industry and businesses deeply implicated throughout its supply chain and the human rights and policy interests of people affected by the plastics crisis. The plastic industry has disproportionate power and influence over policy relative to the general public.”   Given the industry's power and influence - both within the UN and over national and regional governments - there is a strong risk that, unless measures to inhibit their influence are put in place, it will be impossible to negotiate the Global Plastics Treaty that people and the planet need. To avoid their vested, private economic interests being placed before those of the planet and human health, the power of fossil fuel and petrochemical companies needs to be acknowledged and addressed.   The Global Plastics Treaty offers an historic opportunity to address plastic pollution for all. Its success depends on Member States being able to negotiate in good faith, prioritizing input from those most affected and based on the best available, independent science. To achieve these shared goals, UNEP must implement the measures to prevent the undue influence of the fossil fuel and petrochemical companies, which have a vested interest in perpetuating the plastic pollution crisis.   http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press-release/60137/global-plastics-treaty-inc2-reduce-plastic-production/ http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/may/24/recycled-plastic-more-toxic-no-fix-pollution-greenpeace-warns http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/reports/forever-toxic/ http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaign/toolkit-plastic-free-future/learn-about-plastic-pollution/ http://tinyurl.com/2t9z2nv6 http://ikhapp.org/global-plastic-treaty-negotiations/   http://www.ciel.org/news/second-session-of-plastics-treaty-negotiations-delivers-zero-draft-mandate-intercessional-roadmap/ http://www.ciel.org/issue/plastic-global-law-policy/ http://e360.yale.edu/features/advanced-plastics-recycling-pyrolysis http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2023/05/22/global-push-to-end-plastic-pollution-must-take-a-comprehensive-approach http://news.climate.columbia.edu/2023/05/04/a-plastics-treaty-will-be-grand-but-this-recycling-innovator-in-indonesia-isnt-waiting/ http://www.france24.com/en/environment/20230530-tackling-plastic-pollution-we-can-t-recycle-our-way-out-of-this http://www.dw.com/en/nations-meet-to-strike-plastic-pollution-treaty/a-65749803   http://www.minderoo.org/no-plastic-waste/ http://www.minderoo.org/plastic-waste-makers-index/news/revealed-businesses-and-banks-behind-global-plastic-waste-crisis/ http://cdn.minderoo.org/content/uploads/2023/02/04205527/Plastic-Waste-Makers-Index-2023.pdf http://news.climate.columbia.edu/2021/12/23/nows-the-time-for-lawmakers-to-care-about-microplastics/ http://www.hrw.org/news/2023/05/15/plastics-treaty-phase-out-fossil-fuels-end-pollution http://www.hrw.org/news/2022/11/23/plastics-and-human-rights-questions-and-answers http://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/u-n-parties-are-worlds-apart-on-plastics-treaty-solutions/ http://news.mongabay.com/?s=plastics http://www.pewtrusts.org/-/media/assets/2020/07/breakingtheplasticwave_summary.pdf http://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-brief/marine-plastic-pollution
	Earth Day: New User Guide on the right to a healthy and sustainable environment by David Boyd Special Rapporteur on the Human Right to a Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment   Apr. 2024   United Nations resolutions that recognise the right to a clean and healthy environment must translate into concrete policies and projects, said David Boyd, UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Right to a Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment. On the occasion of Earth Day, he issued the following statement, announcing the publication of a User Guide to help implement such policies:   “Today is Earth Day. The day has been celebrated for more than 50 years and is one of the biggest in terms of civic engagement. After years of celebration, this important day resonates even more deeply now that the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment has been recognised at the international level through UN resolutions. Earth day is also an international reminder of the urgent need for action to tackle the triple planetary environmental crisis. This is why, we have chosen this specific day to publish a User Guide on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.   The UN resolutions on the right to a healthy environment provided a much-need jolt of hope to a world struggling to cope with a devastating pandemic and a climate emergency. As soon as the resolutions were adopted, people began to ask: What next? How can we turn these inspiring words into tangible, concrete actions that will improve peoples’ lives and protect this uniquely beautiful and biodiverse planet?   The Guide seeks to answer these questions by looking into how the right can be used to prevent unsustainable and unjust laws, policies, projects and plans proposed by governments and businesses, and how it can be used to advance the transformative and systemic changes urgently needed to achieve a just and sustainable future.   The User Guide aims to provide useful and inspiring advice to civil society, social movements and communities on how to accelerate implementation of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.   All people must have clean air to breathe, safe water to drink, healthy food to eat, a safe climate for themselves and their children and flourishing biodiversity for present and future generations. Transforming today’s economic systems based on exploiting people and nature, is the biggest challenge facing humanity.   But I believe that by working together we can achieve the just and sustainable future that so many people so deeply desire. This User Guide can be seen as a small step on that journey.   It is obvious that we have a long distance to travel and many mountains to climb before everyone, everywhere, fully enjoys their right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. But as I have said to countless amazing activists and environmental human rights defenders across the world I have met along this journey: We are strongest when we use our voices together in global harmony.”   http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/04/un-expert-publishes-user-guide-right-healthy-and-sustainable-environment http://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/environment/srenvironment/activities/2024-04-22-stm-earth-day-sr-env.pdf   Mar. 2024   Rethinking business and economic paradigms for people and planet to survive. (OHCHR)   There is an urgent need to rethink business and economic paradigms that have pushed humanity’s collective impacts beyond planetary limits, a UN expert said today.   “We are sabotaging Earth’s life support system, with profound consequences for human rights,” said David Boyd, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment.   In his report to the Human Rights Council, he stated that the current practices of large businesses are threatening the ecological integrity of the planet and abusing human rights, including the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.   “States have failed to adequately regulate, monitor, prevent and punish businesses for their abuses of the climate, environment and human rights,” Boyd said. “The situation is further exacerbated as States often encourage, enable and subsidise destructive business activities.”   The Special Rapporteur highlighted some of the most destructive impacts of business enterprises on the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, which are also documented in a policy brief supplementing his report.   “All businesses are responsible for respecting human rights, including the right to a healthy environment,” he said.   The expert stressed that States have a duty to protect human rights from actual and potential harm that businesses may cause, and an obligation to hold businesses accountable.   “The recent recognition of the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment has game-changing potential if States and businesses comply with their obligations and responsibilities,” he said.   Boyd made recommendations on how to fulfil this right and achieve ecological sustainability. He called for shifting to holistic alternatives to GDP for measuring progress, human rights due diligence legislation, rights-based climate and environmental laws, making polluters pay, and new business paradigms focused on society benefits instead of shareholder profits.   “In the big picture, humanity needs to shrink its collective ecological footprint, yet billions of people in the global South need to expand their energy and material use to achieve a comfortable standard of living and fully enjoy their human rights,” the Special Rapporteur said.   “Society must confront this paradox. Wealthy States must take the lead in reducing their footprints and financing sustainable and equitable growth in the global South.”   “Paradoxically, businesses have a critical role in supporting society’s quest for a just and sustainable future. Therefore, we need to promote good practices and require all businesses to shift to a paradigm that puts people and the planet before profit,” the expert said.   http://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/ahrc5543-business-planetary-boundaries-and-right-clean-healthy-and http://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-environment/policy-briefs http://news.un.org/en/story/2024/03/1147322 http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/10/investor-state-dispute-settlements-have-catastrophic-consequences http://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/a78168-paying-polluters-catastrophic-consequences-investor-state-dispute Visit the related web page
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