NGO Watch®

Activists Plan Lawsuits Based on UN Climate Deal

January 12, 2016

Politico reports that environmental activists are preparing litigation strategies that will seek to use commitments made by national governments in the recent UN climate deal agreed in Paris and data produced under the deal's country-by-country reporting requirements to bind governments to policies addressing climate change.
Paper: "Civil Society" Shapes Administrative Rules of Global Governance

January 11, 2016

An article from Gianluca Sgueo of the European Parliamentary Research Service considers the role and effectiveness of "civil society actors" and coalitions in developing administrative rules for governance at the supranational level and explores tensions among these groups that make them appear less desirable as shapers of such administrative global governance.
UN Chief Seeks NGO Pressure for Climate Deal

January 06, 2016

In recent remarks, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on representatives of nongovernmental organizations to ramp up pressure on governments to abide by the pledges they made as part of a UN climate deal agreed in Paris.
HRW Offers Cautious Praise for Climate Pact's "Rights" Recognition

December 30, 2015

Katharina Rall of Human Rights Watch ("HRW") praises the recent UN climate agreement for language asserting that "human rights" are at stake in limiting the impact of global warming and calls on activists to serve as "watchdogs" in the implementation of the pact to ensure that such rights are respected.
Oxfam: UN Climate Deal Is Not Enough

December 30, 2015

Illustrating the dissatisfaction of activist groups with non-binding international agreements on environmental policy, the nongovernmental organization Oxfam has published an article asserting that the global climate-change deal agreed at a recent UN conference in Paris does not accomplish enough to limit or contain the catastrophic effects of global warming.
NGO Explores Global Governance Options for Carbon Market

December 22, 2015

In a recent article, Andrei Marcu of the Centre for European Policy Studies considers a number of different options for a unified "carbon market" governed by a central, international body under the terms of the Paris climate agreement.
AI: Climate Change Harms Rights, Creates Refugees

December 22, 2015

Amnesty International ("AI") has published a piece seeking to identify a "direct link" between global warming and "the rights to life, health, food, water and housing" and arguing that people identifying themselves as climate "refugees," who move from their homes due to the effects of climate change, are "entitled" to support from countries responsible for the phenomenon.
HRW Calls for ICC Scrutiny of Recent Israeli Actions

December 18, 2015

Human Rights Watch ("HRW") has published a letter to an International Criminal Court ("ICC") prosecutor examining potential charges against authorities in the Israel-Palestine conflict calling for the prosecutor to "thoroughly scrutinize" Israeli settlement of Palestinian territories and actions, including those committed by Israel, in the 2014 Gaza conflict.
AI Calls for Strengthened ICC

December 14, 2015

Amnesty International ("AI") has criticized certain reform proposals from African nations for the International Criminal Court ("ICC") for potentially undermining judicial independence and has called for countries to take measures to support the strengthening of the ICC, including by limiting the ability of governments to exclude their citizens from ICC prosecution.
NGO Reviews "Progress" in Global Governance

December 14, 2015

The Centre for International Governance Innovation ("CIGI") has published its 2015 Survey of Progress in International Economic Governance, lauding progress in the area of "cooperation on climate change" but warning of a lack of cooperation in such areas as finance and trade.