The 60th regular session of the Human Rights Council will place in Geneva from 8 September to 3 October 2025. The Council proceedings can be viewed on UN TV. The meeting summaries are available on the UN Geneva website and the live-updated programme of work on Sched (link to be updated).
HRC60 Info Session on Human Rights and the Environment
Environmental issues are present in various agenda items of each session of the Human Rights Council (HRC) and their side events.
Toxics and human rights are the usual main environmental theme of the Council’s September sessions, with the Special Rapporteur’s annual report to the HRC. The human rights to water and sanitation, the rights of Indigenous Peoples, climate change and human rights, and the right to development are also environment-related issues presented by their respective United Nations Special Procedures in interactive dialogues with States, international organizations, human rights national institutions, and NGOs.
To develop more synergies among stakeholders and a better outreach on the environmental agenda of HRC60, including the activities taking place in parallel to the Council’s session, the Geneva Environment Network and its partners convened an information-sharing session. This event discussed and shared information on planned environment-related activities at and around HRC60, such as in-person and online events, publications, or exhibitions, among others, and exchange on possible synergies. They feed the GEN page on HRC60 which provides an updated calendar of these environment-related events. → Share information on your activity!
Key Highlights @ HRC60
This section will provide a brief overview of highlights on the environment and human rights at the sixtieth session of the Human Rights Council. (Click to jump to section.)
Opening Session
The 60th session of the Human Rights Council will kick off its four-week session in Geneva with and oral update by the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk.
Human Rights, Toxic Substances and Waste
Though integral to almost all sectors of society, the lack of environmentally sound management of chemicals and waste can have long-lasting negative impacts on human health, society, and on the environment. Such negative impacts violate our human right to live in a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. Human rights, toxic substances, and waste are discussed at the September session of the Human Rights Council.
Report | Guidelines on access to justice and effective remedies in the context of toxics
Lack of accountability is aggravating the increasing toxification of our planet and the resulting infringements of human rights such as the rights to life, health and a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. Individuals and groups exposed to hazardous substances and wastes (or toxics) suffer from reproductive injustices, neurological impairments, and several types of cancer, among other serious health conditions. However, impunity is the norm, rather than the exception, for polluters and for Governments that enable toxic pollution.
Access to justice and effective remedies in the context of toxics poses a global challenge for protecting human rights against the harmful effects of exposure to hazardous substances. Several barriers hinder victims’ access to justice and even impede victims in obtaining effective remedies in the context of toxics. This often results in impunity and highlights the need to strengthen normative frameworks and judicial and other mechanisms to ensure access to justice and remedies for victims of toxic exposure.
International human rights instruments and standards, including principles of due process, combined with multilateral environmental agreements, set the human rights obligations pertaining to environmental justice.
The UN Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights, Marcos Orellana, presenting his report to the Council (A/HRC/60/34), examines human rights standards on access to justice and effective remedies in the context of toxics. He assesses the obstacles that victims face in accessing justice and remedies, identifies innovative strategies and good practices, and puts forward a set of 24 guidelines for overcoming those obstacles.
Interactive Dialogue
An interactive dialogue with the UN Special Rapporteur is scheduled to take place from 15-16 September 2025.
Though integral to almost all sectors of society, the lack of environmentally sound management of chemicals and waste can have long-lasting negative impacts on human health, society, and on the environment.
The UN Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights reports every fall to the Council and to the UN General Assembly on issues related to his mandate. The Geneva Toxic Free Talks aim to harness the opportunity of this moment of the year to reflect on the challenges posed by the production, use, and dissemination of toxics and on how Geneva contributes to bringing together the actors working in reversing the toxic tide.
On the sidelines of HRC60, the 2025 edition of the Geneva Toxic Free Talks is taking place on 17 September 2025, with conferences and discussions, highlighting the work of the Special Rapporteur and of organizations in the struggle for the right to live in a toxic-free environment.
Climate Change and Human Rights
Climate change is one of the greatest existential threats for people and the planet. Its harmful effects undermine the full enjoyment and realization of all human rights, posing a serious risk to the fundamental rights to life, health, food and an adequate standard of living of individuals and communities across the world and disproportionately affecting those who are already in situations of vulnerability. International Geneva as a global hub for environmental governance plays a key role in advancing a human rights-based approach to climate action.
Report | Synthesis report on opportunities, best practices, actionable solutions, challenges and barriers relevant to just transition and the full realization of human rights for all people
Underscoring the interlinkage between just transition and human rights, the Human Rights Council has, among other things, affirmed that prioritizing equity, climate justice, social justice, inclusion and just transition processes can enable adaptation and ambitious mitigation actions and climate-resilient development. It has reaffirmed that social security systems can help to support just transitions as well as reaffirmed the importance of international cooperation as an enabler of just transition pathways towards achieving the goals in the Paris Agreement, including through the scaling-up of investment flows and relevant financial support.
Following Human Rights Council resolution 56/8 entitled “Human rights and climate change”, the UN Secretary-General is presenting a synthesis report (A/HRC/60/52) on opportunities, best practices, actionable solutions, challenges and barriers relevant to a just transition and the full realization of human rights for all people.
Interactive Dialogue
An interactive dialogue on the report is expected to take place in this session.
In the face of the three interrelated environmental crises — climate change, loss of biodiversity, and pollution — the intensification of climate change-related extreme and slow-onset events constitutes one of the greatest threats to human rights, placing it at the forefront of the human rights agenda.
In light of the growing climate change and human rights agenda in HRC60, such as the UN Secretary-General’s report on just transition, this series of the Geneva Rights and Climate Talks, will continue to reflect on the challenges posed by the impacts of climate change and the intertwined human rights implications. The talks are also an opportunity to discuss how Geneva contributes to bringing together the actors working towards placing human rights at the heart of climate action.
Human Rights to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation
Water and sanitation are recognized by the United Nations as human rights, reflecting the fundamental nature of these basics in every person’s life. Water access, lack, and related activities are found to have an important gender dimension, with women and girls collectively spending 200 million hours collecting water, which affects their education and working lives as well as their health and safety.
Report | Water and Energy Nexus
The water and energy nexus reflects a dual relationship: water is a key element for energy production and energy is crucial for ensuring access to safe, high-quality water and for managing its distribution across various uses. In that interconnection, water and energy systems not only support each other but also shape the possibilities for human well-being and environmental sustainability.
The UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, Pedro Arrojo Agudo, will present his report to the Council highlighting the water-energy nexus (A/HRC/60/30). This nexus underscores a vital interdependence: energy is essential for ensuring access to safe water, while water is critical for energy production. Yet, current energy systems often violate human rights, degrade ecosystems and deepen social inequalities. Market-driven energy models prioritize profit over environmental integrity and human rights, sidelining marginalized communities. A double-just transition of water and energy systems must focus on human rights, protect aquatic ecosystems and ensure participatory governance. Crucially, a just and sustainable energy future is inseparable from a just and sustainable water future; both must advance together to uphold human rights for all.
Interactive Dialogue
An interactive dialogue with the UN Special Rapporteur is scheduled to take place in this session.
Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Environment
Protecting 80% of the world’s biodiversity, Indigenous Peoples are inheritors and practitioners of unique cultures and ways of relating to people and the environment. However, as they face discrimination due to their culture or attacked as they defend their rights, protecting their human rights is an indispensable element in protecting the environment.
Report | Recognition of Indigenous Peoples
The UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, Francisco Cali Tzay, dedicates his annual report to the Human Rights Council to the theme “Recognition of Indigenous Peoples”.
As far as Indigenous Peoples are concerned, they are sections of numerous national populations that have historically suffered, or continue to suffer, from prejudiced views that considered, or still consider, them and their cultures as inferior and not good enough to be equally protected by laws as peoples. They are traditional groups for whom the international legal regime on Indigenous Peoples’ rights was devised as a corrective mechanism. The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) affirms that “all doctrines, policies and practices based on or advocating superiority of peoples or individuals based on national origin or racial, religious, ethnic or cultural differences are racist, scientifically false, legally invalid, morally condemnable and socially unjust” (Preamble).
Indigenous Peoples’ international legal regime seeks no more than equality; it aims at uplifting particularly marginalised sections of national populations so that they can enjoy all rights on an equal footing as the rest of their fellow citizens. Almost twenty years after the adoption of the UNDRIP, in 2007, several States in all regions of the world have made advances to identify and recognise Indigenous Peoples using criteria for identification. Constitutions, laws, policies and programmes have explicitly recognised Indigenous Peoples as rights-holders under international law. Domestic and regional courts have equally recognised Indigenous Peoples.
However, despite such valuable efforts, there are disparities in regional trends of recognition of Indigenous Peoples; and some States, particularly in Africa and Asia, are still reluctant to use the term ‘Indigenous Peoples’. In some cases, the human rights concept ‘Indigenous Peoples’ has been misunderstood as seeking to provide a privileged status to those who inhabited first a given land or territory in exclusion of or to the expense of others. This misunderstanding ignores the remedial nature of UNDRIP as a means to achieve equality.
The UN Special Rapporteur is concerned that misunderstandings regarding the recognition of Indigenous Peoples continue to hamper the implementation of UNDRIP and other international instruments on Indigenous Peoples’ rights. He therefore intends to examine ways and means of overcoming obstacles and promote best practices related to the recognition by States of Indigenous Peoples.
Interactive Dialogue
An interactive dialogue with the UN Special Rapporteur is scheduled to take place at this session.
Right to Development and the Environment
Thematic Study | Climate justice, sustainability and the right to development
In its thematic study to be presented to HRC60 (A/HRC/60/95), the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development examines how the right to development principles can be effectively incorporated into established and emerging climate policies to promote climate justice and bolster responses to the climate crisis. The Expert Mechanism positions climate justice as both a foundational framework for guiding climate action and a central objective in tackling the crisis. The Expert Mechanism calls for aligning climate strategies with right to development principles to enhance legitimacy, bridge accountability gaps and deliver more equitable and impactful solutions.
Thematic Study | Operationalizing the right to development in international development cooperation
In its thematic study to be presented to HRC60 (A/HRC/60/94), the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development explores how the normative framework of the right to development can be operationalized in the different forms of development cooperation practices to ensure their effectiveness. The Expert Mechanism identifies challenges and best practices across North-South, South-South and triangular cooperation, and discusses principles for enhancing their effectiveness by mainstreaming the right to development.
Interactive Dialogue
An interactive dialogue with the Working Group on the thematic studies is scheduled to take place at this session.
The Working Group on the Rights of Peasants and other People Working in Rural Areas will be presenting their report to the Council (A/HRC/60/33).
Interactive Dialogue
An interactive dialogue with the Working Group is scheduled to take place at this session.
Other Themes
Situation of natural resources and human rights in Cambodia
In his report to the Council, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, Vitit Muntarbhorn, intends to focus on the link between natural resources and human rights in Cambodia from the angle of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. Of particular interest are elements relating to land (including forestry, food production and agriculture), water (including water for consumption, and protection of water sources, lakes, rivers and sea) and air (including clean air and climate change).
Interactive Dialogue
An interactive dialogue with the UN Special Rapporteur is scheduled to take place at this session.
Human rights implications of new and emerging technologies in the military domain
The Human Rights Council Advisory Committee is presenting their report to the Council (A/HRC/60/63), addresses the full life cycle of new and emerging technologies in the military domain. It examines how international human rights law informs decision-making on data collection and management, transparency, accountability, non-discrimination and rights protection. It outlines the applicable international legal frameworks for the design, development, deployment and oversight of such technologies and their potential dual use (military and non-military).
In the report, the Advisory Committee highlights that as these technologies evolve, addressing their environmental and human rights impacts is essential. They mention that it is also a human rights concern that new and emerging technologies in the military domain, particularly those using AI, consume large amounts of energy, generate significant carbon emissions and rely heavily on raw materials including nickel, cobalt and graphite, posing long-term risks, including to the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.
Interactive Dialogue
An interactive dialogue with the Advisory Committee is scheduled to take place at this session.
Events
Date and time of some events subject to change on the live-updated programme of work on Sched.
Reports
Reports to be presented at HRC60 relating to the global environmental agenda are listed below. The full list of reports can be consulted on the HRC website.
A/HRC/60/30 | Water and energy nexus | Report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
A/HRC/60/33 | Report of the Working Group on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas
A/HRC/60/34 | Guidelines on access to justice and effective remedies in the context of toxics | Report of the UN Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights
A/HRC/60/52 | Synthesis report on opportunities, best practices, actionable solutions, challenges and barriers relevant to just transition and the full realization of human rights for all people | Report of the UN Secretary-General
A/HRC/60/63 | Human rights implications of new and emerging technologies in the military domain | Report of the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee
A/HRC/60/86 | Situation of human rights in Cambodia | Report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia
A/HRC/60/94 | Operationalizing the right to development in international development cooperation | Thematic study by the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development
A/HRC/60/95 | Climate justice, sustainability and the right to development | Thematic study by the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development
Resolutions and Decisions
Resolutions and decisions (found on the HRC60 website) relating to the global environmental agenda tabled or adopted by their main sponsors at HRC60 and their subsequent decisions are listed below. A summary of actions on the resolutions will be provided by the Geneva Centre for Human Rights Advancement and Global Dialogue.
Call for Submissions
Special Procedures
The special procedure mandate-holders are independent human rights experts who help advance human rights, by reporting and advancing from a country-specific or thematic perspective, some of which are related to the environment. Calls for submissions are made to help mandate-holders prepare their reports to the Human Rights Council.
Videos and Highlights
Videos and highlights of related events will be featured in this section.
Links and Resources
News and Updates
Relevant news and updates are featured in this section.
Past HRC Sessions
Environment @ HRC59 | Environment @ HRC58 | Environment @ HRC57 | Environment @ HRC56 | Environment @ HRC55 | Environment @ HRC54 | Environment @ HRC53 | Environment @ HRC52 | Environment @ HRC51 | Environment @ HRC50 | Environment @ HRC49 | Environment @ HRC48 | Environment @ HRC47 | Environment @ HRC46 | Environment @ HRC45 | Environment @ HRC44 | Environment @ HRC43
Who to Follow on X
@UN_HRC | UN Human Rights Council
@swiss_un | Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva, President of the Human Rights Council in 2025
@SwissAmbUN_GVA | H.E. Amb. Jürg Lauber, Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva, President of the Human Rights Council in 2025
@BDPM_Geneva | Permanent Mission of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva
@TareqMdArifulI1 | H.E. Amb. Tareq Md. Ariful Islam, Permanent Representative of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva, Vice-President of the Human Rights Council in 2025
@UNHumanRights | The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN Human Rights)
@volker_turk | UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
@NadaNashif | United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights
@SREnvironment | Astrid Puentes Riaño, SR on the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment (also @astridpuentes)
@SRclimatechange | Elisa Morgera, SR on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change
@SRtoxics | Marcos Orellana, SR on toxics and human rights
@RelatorDd | José Francisco Calí Tzay, SR indigenous peoples
@SRWatSan | Pedro Arrojo Agudo, SR on rights to water and sanitation
@MichaelFakhri | Michael Fakhri, SR on right to food
@AXanthaki | Alexandra Xanthaki, SR on cultural rights
@SRpoverty | Olivier De Schutter, SR on poverty and human rights (also @DeSchutterO)
@ISHRglobal | The International Service for Human Rights
@FranciscansIntl | Franciscans International
@Geneva_Academy | Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights
@hrw | Human Rights Watch
@URGthinktank | Universal Rights Group (URG)
@YvesLador | Special Representative of Earthjustice in Geneva
@duycks | Senior Attorney – Climate and Energy Programme at the Center for International Environmental Law
@katha_nina | Katharina Rall, Senior Environment Researcher at Human Rights Watch
@ChildRightsCnct | Child Rights Connect
@CERI_Coalition | Children’s Environmental Rights Initiative (CERI)
@CRINwire | Child Rights International Network