In 2025 our Association sent the submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Professor Mary Lawlor, for the request regarding the role of human rights defenders in the context of climate change and a just transition, in accordance with UN Human Rights Council resolution 52/4.
ARC’s submission informed the UN Rapporteur on challenges for the climate and environment, caused by the Russian aggression against Ukraine, and about the repressions against human rights defenders and environmental activists in the Russia-occupied territories of Ukraine, including the Crimea, with relevant challenges to the indigenous environmental rights.
Now the relevant Report A/80/114 “Tipping points: human rights defenders, climate change and a just transition” was presented by the UN Special Rapporteur to the 80th session of the UN General Assembly, and UN Rapporteur’s team thanked our Association for the relevant cooperation.
Report A/80/114 ppointed to the role of “grass-roots initiatives to restore damaged ecosystems in the context of the invasion by Russia” in Ukraine and condemned the attacks against human rights defenders, with a disproportionate number against Indigenous peoples.
States must urgently prioritize ending retaliation against Indigenous human rights defenders and impunity for such attacks, Report A/80/114 added, stressing regrets that human rights, including those of the journalists targeted, are sidelined, along with effective climate action and a just transition, also as about the continued imprisonment of human rights defenders serving 10 years or more in Belarus and Russia.
Our collaboration with UN bodies on issues of counteracting the negative environmental impact of the Russian aggression will be continued.
