Center for International Environmental Law

Climate and energy program: ciel's climate & energy program works to effectively address the threat of climate change and accelerate a full, fair, and funded transition to a renewable energy economy. Recent impacts include: receiving the un's highest human rights prize for supporting a global coalition that secured the un recognition of the right to a healthy environment; strengthening the rules requiring companies to disclose climate-related investment risks; exposing fossil fuel industry knowledge and obfuscation of their products' impacts; providing legal assistance to communities and partners in support of human rights-based climate action and accountability; raising awareness to support frontline partners working to expose and confront the impacts of petrochemical expansion; building intersectional movements to address the full polluting life cycle of oil and gas including plastics, petrochemicals, pesticides, and fertilizers; researching, publishing, comminicating information on the dangers of false climate solutions, such as carbon capture schemes, blue hydrogen, and geoengineering.

People, land & resources program: the people, land & resources (pl&r) program works to protect the environment and human rights against the adverse impacts of large-scale development projects, including extractive industries, large-scale infrastructure and energy projects, and the timber industry. Recent achievements include: advancing stronger more effective remedy policies at the world bank group and interamerican development bank; strengthening policies to prevent and respond to reprisals, and exit responsibly when project finance ends; helping secure zero-tolerance policies for gender-based violence at development finance institutions; supporting indigenous communities to directly engage with the united nations and the world bank to defend their rights; and strengthening implementation and enforcement of the convention on International trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora (cites) to protect forests and halt the trade of illegally harvested timber. Working from the International to grassroots level, ciel ensures that strong human rights and Environmental safeguards govern development activities and that impacted indigenous communities exercise their right to free, prior, and informed consent, and holds governments and corporations accountable when they violate them.

Environmental health program: the Environmental health program is deeply engaged in efforts to reduce exposure to toxic chemicals and plastic pollution around the world. Ciel works with partners to promote bold action on hazardous chemicals and substances of concern and to investigate, expose, and address hidden and emerging risks. Recent successes include: providing analysis to inform development of a legally binding global treaty to address the Environmental, health, and climate impacts of the plastics life cycle; investigating the impact micro- and nanoplastics moving through the air and entering the human body via inhalation; exposing the growing use and risks of microplastics in agrochemical products such as plastic-coated fertilizers and pesticides; providing input into an International process for a mechanism to fund chemicals and waste management in developing and transition countries; providing legal analysis to support effective chemicals regulation in the european union, including by seeking strong commitments on endocrine disrupting chemicals (edcs) and persistent organic pollutants (pops); and supporting the adoption and enforcement of precaution-based regulatory measures for nanomaterials. Ciel also works with ngo partners and coalitions in the global south to prevent the leakage of pollution to vulnerable communities with limited resources, and to support communities affected by toxic exposure from industrial processes.

Ipen secretariat and miscellaneous projects

Misc. Projects