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OxHRH

Human Rights, the Environment and Mining: Holding Transnational Corporations Accountable

Claudia Müller-Hoff - 19th May 2017

Business & Resources & Environment & Development

Litigation that tests the division between corporate and state human rights obligations, and the synergies between environmental and human rights law, is currently underway in Peru. The Tintaya-Antapaccay mine in Espinar, Peru, owned by Glencore PLC, has produced copper for several decades and the contamination of the local environment which results is notorious: residents drink […]

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OxHRH

Kiobel v. Cravath: An Example of How a Little-Known U.S. Law can be Used as a Pre-Litigation Tool Overseas

Upasana Khatri - 22nd February 2017

Business & Resources & Environment & Development

When Esther Kiobel—who believes Shell collaborated with Nigerian authorities to commit gross human rights abuses, including the murder of her husband—could not find justice by suing Shell in U.S courts, she decided to sue the Dutch oil giant in the Netherlands. In support of the Dutch action, EarthRights International (ERI) helped Ms. Kiobel and her […]

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OxHRH

Environmental Human Rights in the Trump Era: Modes of Resistance and Reform

Nicholas Stump - 23rd January 2017

Business & Resources & Environment & Development

The ecological ramifications of the Trump administration may well prove catastrophic. Climate change denial and problematic fossil fuel positions featured prominently in the President’s campaign; post-election, far-right nominations and policy stances have seemingly confirmed the administration’s dire trajectory. Thus, environmental human rights—i.e., normative guarantees inter alia to clean water and air—are imperiled in the U.S., […]

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OxHRH

Foreign Legal Assistance applications: a strategy to advance accountability for transnational human rights abuses

Tamara Morgenthau - 18th January 2017

Business & Resources & Environment & Development

In 2014, 40 million liters of toxic mining waste spilled from the Buenavista del Cobre copper mine into the Bacanuchi and Sonora Rivers, contaminating the water source of over 25,000 people. The Buenavista del Cobre spill is considered Mexico’s worst mining disaster in recent history. Through the Sonora River Basin Committees (Comités de Cuenca Río […]

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OxHRH

Human Rights and the SDGs: Progress or a Missed Opportunity?

Siobhán McInerney-Lankford - 6th January 2017

Business & Resources & Environment & Development

On 25 September 2015 the United Nations General Assembly adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which would replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The 17 SDGs, 169 targets and 230 indicators cover poverty, health, education, water and sanitation, but also inequalities, gender, climate and institutions. While the […]

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OxHRH

Towards an International Legally Binding Instrument on Business and Human Rights

Gosia Pearson - 8th December 2016

Business & Resources & Environment & Development

The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights are the first global set of guidelines for states and companies to prevent and address the risk of adverse impacts on human rights related to business activity. They cover three areas: the state duty to protect human rights, the corporate responsibility to respect human rights, and […]

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OxHRH

Food Deserts In Appalachia: A Socio-Economic Ill and Opportunities for Reform

Nicholas Stump - 15th November 2016

Business & Resources & Environment & Development

Food deserts constitute a public health phenomenon in which communities lack sufficient access to nutritious whole foods.  The U.S. Appalachian region currently faces a food desert crisis of problematic proportions: this crisis stems from neoliberalism’s dire legacy and a rapidly transitioning energy sector, which have left the region devastated. To combat food deserts, the Appalachian […]

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OxHRH

The Human Rights Council – Highlighted Outcomes of the 33rd Session

Gosia Pearson - 22nd October 2016

Business & Resources & Environment & Development

The three intensive weeks of the 33rd session of the Human Rights Council (HRC) concluded on 30 September 2016. They resulted in thirty resolutions, a Presidential statement, and the appointment of five mandate holders. While many issues tackled at the sessions were recurrent items previously discussed at the forum, several outcomes stand out. The HRC […]

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OxHRH

European Court of Human Rights Rules on Greek Debt Restructuring

Menelaos Markakis - 30th July 2016

Business & Resources & Environment & Development

There is a seemingly endless stream of cases originating from the Greek crisis, which has preoccupied the national, European, and international courts and bodies alike. The judgment delivered by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in the case of Mamatas and Others v Greece is of the utmost legal and political significance. The case […]

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