The third revised draft of the UN business and Human Rights treaty was published
In 2014, the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution drafted by Ecuador and South America establishing an open-ended intergovernmental working group with a mandate to elaborate an international legally binding instrument to regulate, in international human rights law, the activities of transnational corporation and other business enterprises. Since then, several versions of the instruments have been released and various sessions of negotiations have taken place. The last version (the third revised draft) of the draft treaty was released on the 17th of august 2021.
The IPCC released its sixth assessment report on climate change
On the 9th of August 2021, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its report – Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Its key findings include the following:
- The 1.5°C rise in global temperature is likely to be reached before 2040.
- Climate change is intensifying the water cycle, affecting rainfall patterns, and melting glaciers, ice sheets and snow covers.
- We will observe the continued rising of the sea level, throughout the 21st century.
- The occurrence of extreme weather events is expected to increase in the coming years.
- Preventing the 1.5°C rise is still possible but would require immediate and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions of 50% by 2030 and by 100% by 2050.
This report first deliverable of the Sixth Assessment Report, which will be completed in 2022.
Authors: Ana Carina Duarte and Rafaela Oliveira