Environmental Law and Climate Change

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The chapter deals with the interaction between human rights and environmental and climate change-related matters, from a due diligence perspective. As an introduction, the evolution of such interaction is explained, followed by an analysis of environmental standards of particular importance for human rights (concerning project assessments, air and climate, water, waste, hazardous substances and remediation, and natural and cultural resources). The chapter also deals with good practices for identifying risks in environmental due diligence, from ‘traditional environmental assessments’ (impact assessments and site assessments), to practices concerning company disclosures, plans and policies, government databases, stakeholder comments, and sustainability due diligence. In relation to sustainability due diligence, the following good practices that can be used to identify ESG-related environmental risks are commented: stakeholder engagement, supply chain management, ESG assessments, and risk management frameworks. Then, a discussion on some of the main evolving issues in the environment–human rights nexus follows, concerning climate, sustainability (life cycle considerations, natural capital), supply chain due diligence, and future interaction between environmental and human rights due diligence. The chapter ends with some practical conclusions.