Researching Environmental Justice & Human Rights in the Americas: International Organization Websites

International organizations include intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), which are created by treaty, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). These organizations play a critical role in the international legal system by monitoring treaty compliance, hosting conferences which lead to the adoption of treaties and creating websites that serve as online repositories for particular treaties or topics. Following is a select list of such organizations:

The Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) website is the starting place for any human rights research within the United Nations human rights system. The Special Procedures mechanism of the Human Rights Council provides for the appointment of individual human rights experts, known as Rapporteurs, to address particular issues by country or theme. There is, for example, a Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment. Related themes include the right to safe drinking water, indigenous rights and human rights protection in the context of climate change.  

United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) is the primary UN organ that focuses on international environmental issues. UNEP, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) created a joint information service called ECOLEX. The ECOLEX database includes information on treaties, international soft law, and other non-binding policy and technical guidance documents, national legislation, judicial decisions, and law and policy literature. 

Other relevant IGOs and NGOs include:

• Canadian Association for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CALACS)
• Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL)
• Due Process of Law Foundation
• Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) aka Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL)
• environment-rights.org Resource portal for environmental, land and indigenous defenders
• Greenpeace International (Greenpeace has local branches in Latin America) 
• International Justice Resource Center
• Justice Studies Center of the Americas (English/Spanish) aka Centro de Estudios de Justicia de las Américas (CEJA)

The United Nations is the most important IGO in the international legal system. UN General Assembly resolutions are not binding like treaties, which are also known as "hard law". Nevertheless, such resolutions may be highly persuasive as "soft law". The following resolutions are particularly noteworthy for the development of environmental justice in the Americas.

H.R.C. Res. 48/13 (Oct. 8, 2021). The UN Human Rights Council recognizes the human right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment.

U.N. G.A. Res. 76/300 (July 28, 2022). The UN General Assembly recognizes the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment as a human right.

Framework Principles on Human Rights and the Environment in Report of the Special Rapporteur on the issue of human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment, U.N. Doc. A/HRC/37/59 (Jan. 24, 2018) Annex.