A significant moment for rights protection in Brazil's Amazon: Two landmark court rulings in Brazil have affirmed the rights of Indigenous peoples + small farmers in the Amazon, ordering federal authorities to remove the illegal cattle ranchers driving deforestation in protected areas.

Philippine authorities relocating communities displaced in 2021 by Typhoon Odette have ignored the rights of residents, especially those with disabilities. In a new report, HRW explores how people with disabilities experience climate-related risks.

Cattle ranching is the leading driver of deforestation in Brazil + traceability is essential to stop deforestation and protect local communities. Postponing Pará’s cattle traceability system until 2030 weakens transparency and allows deforestation-linked beef to keep flowing through supply chains.

Governments are seldom this brazen when obscuring the true costs of air pollution. On January 12, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it will stop assigning economic value to lives saved and illnesses avoided when considering air pollution controls. www.hrw.org/news/2026/01...

By retreating from international climate cooperation, the US undermines global efforts to safeguard rights and weakens its own capacity to protect people —especially those already most vulnerable — from the worsening impacts of climate change, including within its own borders.

New @hrw.org report: UK authorities have severely restricted the right to protest. A stark illustration of the escalating crackdown is the case of 5 Just Stop Oil activists who, in July 2024, were sentenced to between 2 and 5 years in prison for merely joining a Zoom call to plan a protest.

#Bulgaria has delayed its exit from coal, trailing behind most EU countries in its transition, and risking breach of new #EU air quality standards. Fresh @hrw.org report shows this contributes to serious health harms, esp for children. It may cost Bulgaria EU funds too. www.hrw.org/news/2025/12...

Despite clear—and powerful—calls from civil society for the #COP30 summit to take bolder steps on climate change and to uphold human rights, the summit failed to make any real progress on the two issues key to stabilising greenhouse gas concentrations: fossil fuels + deforestation.

As #COP30 comes to a close, we remind governments of their international obligations to address climate change as well as to respect and protect environmental defenders' basic rights. Hear more from environmental defenders at #COP30 ⤵️

Push-back on the latest #COP30 draft: “We cannot support an outcome that does not include a roadmap for implementing a just, orderly, and equitable transition away from fossil fuels.”

Here in Belém, we’re into the last hours of #COP30. It’s our hope @hrw.org the way Indigenous Peoples have made their presence felt throughout this COP will spur a global commitment towards protecting climate-critical forests, Indigenous Peoples + other forest-dependent communities:

As the world comes together to tackle the climate crisis at #COP30 in Brazil, its Congress is considering proposals that would exacerbate it. Those measures could severely impact the Amazon, which is critical for global climate.

As the world comes together to tackle the climate crisis at #COP30 in Brazil, its Congress is considering proposals to dismantle environmental licensing requirements + to revoke a plan to protect human rights defenders. Brazil’s Congress should reject these proposals: www.hrw.org/news/2025/11...

Le président du #Brésil Lula a déclaré que la #COP30 était la "COP de la vérité" — "Il faut donc que la vérité soit appliquée dans la reconnaissance des territoires autochtones en tant que mesure d'atténuation climatique."⤵️

Brazil's President Lula has said #COP30 is the COP of truth — "so it must be the truth when it comes to recognizing the titling of Indigenous territories as a climate mitigation measure.” Secure land rights are crucial for the survival of Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities. Learn more ⤵️

A reminder that while plenty of people (rightly) call for a phase out of fossil fuels at #COP30, last week a court in Uganda put 12 activists on trial on charges stemming from their protests against the planned East African Crude Oil Pipeline (#EACOP). Charges against them should be dropped.

Imagine having to leave your home due to sea level rise and other climate impacts. Many communities are facing this difficult choice. @myrtotilianaki.bsky.social is at #COP30, where HRW is pushing for community-centered climate policies ⤵️

Climate COPs are, essentially, an opportunity to better align govt actions with their rhetoric. So as #COP30 begins in Brazil's Amazon, @hrw.org is drawing attention to the Terra Nossa settlement, where a federal agency plans to hand over a large area of the rainforest to illegal cattle ranches:

COP30, the annual United Nations climate change conference, kicks off today in Belém, Brazil. This year, countries should move forward with plans to phase out fossil fuels in a way that protects human rights and supports a just transition. Learn more ⤵️

A new study from PSE Healthy Energy highlights hidden dangers of methane leaks, an often overlooked threat to both climate +public health The research serves as a warning: weakening or delaying methane regulations would undermine climate goals + leave many communities exposed to toxic air pollution

"For now, the world isn’t performing an energy transition but an energy addition, where renewables top up oil, gas and coal. ... [T]hat will remain the case for years, if not decades, unless governments impose significant changes." Depressing. www.smh.com.au/business/mar...

“Land and environmental defenders – those protecting our forests, rivers, and lands across the world – continue to be met with unspeakable violence. They are being hunted, harassed, and killed – not for breaking laws, but for defending life itself.” -Laura Furones, @globalwitness.org

Next week, Pacific leaders gather in Solomon Islands for the Pacific Islands Forum. As single communities across the Pacific face sea level rise + coastal erosion without assistance or support, @hrw.org calls on Pacific leaders to adopt the Pacific Guidance on Internal Planned Relocation:

A Chinese company spilled toxic mining waste into Zambian villages and rivers. When the company's consultant warned that the spill was 3 times worse than previously disclosed and could cause serious illness for locals, the mining firm fired the consultant. insideclimatenews.org/news/0409202...

Aneto Glacier 03 Sept. 2025 What's left of the largest glacier in the Pyrenees! 😱 Only few years more to see ice at the roof of this magnificent mountain range...😭 📷 @cryopyr / IG

Not just resisting, but leading the fight: five women who refuse to be ignored

New rules barring disaster assistance to undocumented immigrants raise a core values question: Is there any universal humanitarian principle that takes precedence over the raw animus toward undocumented people that now seems to be a bedrock principle of US govt policy? www.hrw.org/news/2025/08...

Air pollution from the oil and gas sector causes 91,000 premature deaths and hundreds of thousands of illnesses in the US each year. Communities of colour face the greatest burden. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Continuing oil production in Block 43 in Ecuador’s Yasuni National Park ignores the people’s mandate and directly affects the rights of the Indigenous Peoples inhabiting the park: @hrw.org

Dix ans après la houle dévastatrice de 2016, des centaines de familles déplacées à Khar Yalla à Saint -Louis dans le nord du Sénégal vivent toujours dans des conditions précaires: @hrw-fr.hrw.org

El gobierno de Ecuador debe acelerar el cierre de los aproximadamente 240 pozos petroleros que operan en el corazón del Parque Nacional Yasuní, en la selva amazónica: @hrw.org

Indonesia is the top producer of palm oil in the world, and Indonesian Papua is its final frontier for agriculture-driven deforestation. In a new feature, HRW documents how the government and companies took Indigenous lands without women's consent in Indonesia's South Papua 🧵⤵️

" #Ecuador has a clear obligation to begin to phase out fossil fuels in a way that respects the will of its people, the courts, & the human rights of affected communities. Complying with the referendum by closing the wells is long overdue." @richardpearshouse.bsky.social www.hrw.org/news/2025/08...

2 yrs ago the Ecuadorian people voted to halt all current + future oil drilling in a particularly sensitive block of Yasuni National Park. To date, only a handful of the block’s approx 240 wells have been closed. The Govt should immediately end oil extraction in the area protected by the referendum

#Sénégal Des habitants déplacés par les inondations de 2015 et 2016 continuent de vivre dans des conditions très difficiles. Les autorités devraient renforcer leur aide + mesures face au changement climatique, selon un nouveau rapport de HRW. ➡️ www.hrw.org/fr/news/2025...

Brazil's agrarian federal agency should reject a proposal to downsize a sustainable settlement in a deforested area of the Amazon. Downsizing Terra Nossa would reward people illegally occupying land with impunity and could leave residents vulnerable.

1,000 people live in Khar Yalla, near Saint-Louis in Senegal. They were moved to the site after coastal flooding destroyed their homes in 2015. There is severe overcrowding at the site, no electricity + no waste disposal. Homes flood regularly. 10 years later, they’re still waiting for a solution

The latest talks toward a global plastics treaty end in failure. Over 100 countries pushed for a cap on new plastic production, but Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, the U.S., China + Russia opposed them. It’s no surprise these countries oppose production limits: plastic comes from fossil fuels.

As this round of negotiations towards a global plastics treaty stretches into its last days here in Geneva, a reminder from @hrw.org to tackle plastic pollution at it’s source: Rights-respecting measures, including production caps and a fossil fuel phase-out, are essential to any lasting solution.

“Risks faced by activists and communities living on the fence-lines of Brazil’s oil and gas industry rarely draw attention from national and international media. But that can and should change.” Opinion by @richardpearshouse.bsky.social of @hrw.org

O PL da Devastação permitiria que projetos avançassem sem avaliação de impacto ambiental, pondo em risco a proteção da Amazônia e dos direitos de povos indígenas e quilombolas. Seria o maior retrocesso ambiental em décadas. @lulaoficialbluesky.bsky.social deveria vetá-lo. www.hrw.org/pt/news/2025...

Brazil’s Congress just passed a proposed General Environmental Licensing Law. If enacted, the bill could accelerate oil and gas extraction, mining, cattle ranching, and deforestation in the Amazon. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva should veto the bill: @hrw.org

The threats and intimidation faced by activists +communities living on the fencelines of Brazil’s oil +gas industry rarely draw attention from international media. But with Brazil to host the next UN Climate Change meeting (COP30) that can +should change. My latest via @newhumanitarian.bsky.social

This bill dismantles environmental licensing requirements and, if approved, could accelerate oil and gas extraction, cattle ranching, and deforestation in the Amazon. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva should veto it.

What did the IACtHR's Advisory Opinion on the Climate Emergency say about displacement in the context of climate change? Not a lot, but what it did say is helpful. Read more here: cgrs.uclawsf.edu/our-work/pub...

👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻 The Inter-American Court of Human Right’s long-anticipated Advisory Opinion on the Climate Emergency + Human Rights was released last week: Countries need to adopt concrete, science-based measures to progressively reduce greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels, agriculture + deforestation

#Cambodge : les peines lourdes et infondées infligées aux activistes de Mother Nature il y a un an témoignent du profond mépris du gouvernement envers l’environnement. Le gouvernement devrait annuler ces condamnations et les libérer immédiatement. hrw.org/fr/news/2025...

In Türkiye, local communities are challenging -in court- the Govt's recent expansion of the Afşin-Elbistan coal power plant. We @hrw.org will submit our view to court: Turkish authorities have not adequately taken into account the potential further damage on people’s lives, health + environment.

A year ago, 5 environmental activists in Cambodia were imprisoned on harsh and baseless charges. They’re still in prison. @hrw.org continues to demand that the government quash these convictions and release them immediately.