Date: September 25, 2019, 5:15pm – 7:30pm; Reception 7:30pm
Location: Columbia Law School, Jerome Greene Hall, Room 101

By Solina Kennedy
September 20, 2019

In this interview, the second of the Climate Crisis, Global Land Use and Human Rights series, Julie Maldonado, Associate Director at Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network (LiKEN) and Co-Director of Rising Voices: Climate Resilience through Indigenous and Earth Sciences, discusses the importance of centering Indigenous wisdom and perspectives and relational-based approaches in the pursuit of just climate change actions.

By Lisa Sachs, Lise Johnson, Kaitlin Cordes, Jesse Coleman, Brooke Guven
September 6, 2019

Two-thirds of the world’s population, 5.1 billion people, lack meaningful access to justice. In many cases, injustices are frequently caused or perpetuated by business activity. Despite international obligations for states and corporations, as applicable, to provide appropriate and effective remedies, injustice persists. The Business and Human Rights Arbitration Working Group, a group of respected practicing lawyers and academics, is advancing The Hague Rules on Business and Human Rights Arbitration (the “BHR Arbitration Rules”) to help address the remedy gap. This blog discusses concerns about the draft BHR Arbitration Rules that could result in them undermining, rather than advancing, access to justice of human rights claimants.

By Solina Kennedy
September 2, 2019

In this interview, the first of the Climate Crisis, Global Land Use and Human Rights series, Annie Signorelli, Project Manager for Renewable Energy and Human Rights at the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC), discusses the critical need for embedding human rights, especially those of indigenous communities, within the renewable energy sector, and the hurdles faced in pursuing environmental justice without compromising human rights.

The Hague Rules on Business and Human Rights Arbitration, initiated by the Business and Human Rights Arbitration Working Group, aims to create an international private judicial dispute resolution avenue available to parties involved in business and human rights issues, thereby helping to address the significant remedy gap faced by victims of business-related abuses. With the… read more

Date: January 30, 2019, 6:00pm – 7:30pm
Location: Columbia Law School, Room 104

CCSI submitted an amicus brief to the Constitutional Court of Colombia concerning the Tutela hearing of Mansarovar Energy Colombia Ltd. v. Tribunal Administrativo del Meta (The Consulta Popular of Cumaral, Meta). The hearing concerned a challenge by Mansarovar Energy Colombia Limited of a municipal-wide referendum (the Consulta Popular) concerning whether or not the extraction of… read more

On October 18, 2017, the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights  and the CCSI co-hosted a one-day roundtable on the impacts of the international investment regime on access to justice for investment-affected individuals and communities. Held at Columbia University in New York, the roundtable brought together 32 individuals from civil society organizations, communities… read more

Date: September 26, 2018, 9:00am – 12:00pm
Location: Faculty House, Columbia University, New York

Edited by Michael Burger, Teresa Parejo, and Lisa Sachs
September 19, 2018

As the UNGA convenes this week, we are bringing together independent thought leaders and legal scholars from around the world to weigh in on what, if anything, the process initiated by UNGA Resolution 72/277 might usefully accomplish; and what the United Nations agencies, national governments and civil society stakeholders engaged in the process could usefully consider. Together, these perspectives identify a number of existing issues that merit attention and, if heeded, might inform negotiations on the future of international environmental governance.