NGO Watch®

Australian Court Rejects Coal Mine Due to Global Climate Agenda

February 14, 2019

Human Rights Watch has published an article celebrating the decision of a court in New South Wales in Australia rejecting an application by a company to mine coal because it would contribute to a rise in greenhouse gas emissions, characterizing the ruling as “the latest in a wave of litigation on climate change” around the world.
Cities Attempt to Keep “Climate Liability” Suits in State Court

February 14, 2019

Dana Drugmand writes that local officials and NGOs are attempting to keep lawsuits seeking compensation from fossil fuel companies over alleged costs of global warming in the California, as opposed to the US federal, court system, as federal law and precedent offer a slim chance of success in the legal action.
Academics, NGOs Develop Principles on Right to Education

February 06, 2019

A group of academics and representatives of nongovernmental organizations will meet next week in Côte d’Ivoire to adopt a set of Guiding Principles for governments and educators on how to facilitate “the right to access free quality public education.”
NGO Accuses Booking Companies of Violations of Palestinian Rights

February 06, 2019

Amnesty International has accused online booking companies AirBnb and TripAdvisor of contributing to Israeli human rights violations and “war crimes” by facilitating the reservation of accommodations on land the nongovernmental organization says Israeli settlers “stole” from Palestinians.
NGO Calls on Development Institutions to Push for Rights Protection

February 05, 2019

Asmara Klein of the Natural Resource Governance Institute echoes the calls by advocates of the business and human rights agenda for lenders to use their leverage to press for rights protection in an article pushing international financial institutions to condition their loans on government respect for civil and political rights.
ICRC Warns UNSC About Role of Climate Change in Conflict

February 04, 2019

In a recent statement to the UN Security Council (UNSC), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Permanent Observer to the UN Robert Mardini warned climate change is “exacerbating vulnerabilities and inequalities,” thus playing a growing role in contributing to armed conflict.
Council Seeks Reform of Global Refugee Architecture

February 04, 2019

The NGO- and government-supported World Refugee Council in Canada has called for an “overhaul” of global rules and institutions focused on refugees, including by assessing mandatory funding contributions on members of the UN refugee agency and creating a Global Action Network for the Forcibly Displaced.
NGOs: Companies Must Deny Face Surveillance Tech to Governments

January 31, 2019

A group of nongovernmental organizations has published a letter calling on tech company Microsoft to refuse to provide a face surveillance product it has developed, called Face API, to any governments, warning that government use of such technology will target “immigrants, religious minorities, and people of color in our communities.”
Paper Calls for Global Standards on Data Analytics

January 31, 2019

The nongovernmental organization Centre for International Governance Innovation has published a paper pushing for governments, businesses, and nongovernmental organizations to work toward the development of “international foundational standards” to prevent corporate misuse of data analytics.
NGO Criticizes Trump for “Assault” on Human Rights

January 25, 2019

As part of its World Report 2019, the nongovernmental organization Human Rights Watch claimed the Trump Administration has “assaulted human rights in the US and abroad” by implementing new immigration, health, and other policies and by “distancing” the US from multilateral human rights institutions and international judicial bodies.