Call for submissions | Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council, Treaty Bodies, Subsidiary Bodies and Office of the High Commissioner

Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council

The special procedures of the Human Rights Council are independent human rights experts with mandates to report and advise on human rights from a thematic or country-specific perspective. They are non-paid and elected for 3-year mandates that can be reconducted for another three years. As of October 2021, there are 45 thematic and 13 country mandates.

With the support of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), special procedures:

• undertake country visits
• act on individual cases of reported violations and concerns of a broader nature by sending communications to States and others
• conduct annual thematic studies, seek information from calls for input and convene expert consultations
• contribute to the development of international human rights standards, and
• engage in advocacy, raise public awareness, and provide advice for technical cooperation.

The International Service Human Rights (ISHR) has published a Practical Guide to the UN Special Procedures provides an overview of the system of independent human rights experts known as the Special Procedures, and the different ways human rights defenders can make use of it to further their human rights causes.

Special Rapporteur on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment

The Human Rights Council established the mandate for an Independent Expert on human rights and the environment in 2012 (resolution 19/10). The mandate on human rights and the environment exists to:

• examine the human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment
• promote best practices of the use of human rights in environmental policymaking
• identify challenges and obstacles to the global recognition and implementation of the right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment
• Conduct country visits and respond to human rights violations

In April 2024, the Human Rights Council adopted without a vote a resolution to renew the Mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, aligning the name of the mandate with the recognition by the Human Rights Council and the UN General Assembly of the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. Astrid Puentes is the current Special Rapporteur on the human right to a healthy environment.

Calls for submissions

There are currently no calls for submissions.

Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change

Elisa Morgera is the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change with the following mandate:

• Study and identify how the adverse effects of climate change, affect the full and effective enjoyment of human rights
• Identify existing challenges, including financial challenges, of States’ efforts
• Synthesize knowledge, including indigenous and local traditional knowledge, and identify good practices, strategies and policies
• Promote and exchange views on lessons learned and best practices
• Raise awareness on the human rights affected by climate change, especially of persons living in developing countries particularly vulnerable
• Facilitate and contribute to the exchange of technical assistance, capacity-building and international cooperation in support of national efforts
• Integrate a gender-responsive, age-sensitive, disability inclusive and social-inclusion perspective
• Work closely with States and relevant stakeholders, including business enterprises to adopt a human rights perspective

Calls for submissions

Technologies related to climate change and their impacts on human rights

In order to advance the clarification of the human rights-based approach to climate action and just transition (A/HRC/60/52), including the human rights imperative of defossilizing our economies (A/HRC/59/42), in her report to the 65th session of the Human Rights Council, the Special Rapporteur seeks to synthesise and analyse a varied body of evidence (from across the natural and social sciences, including Indigenous science and other knowledge systems) of the actual and potential, positive and negative impacts on human rights of technologies related to climate change mitigation, adaptation, and/or responses to loss and damage.

The report will continue to take a full life-cycle approach to the assessment of technologies and their human rights impacts concerning lands and the ocean, with a view to contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular Goals 13 (climate action) and 14 (life below water). The report will build and expand on the work of the Special Rapporteur on Toxics and Human Rights on the toxic impacts of some proposed climate change solutions (A/HRC/54/25), Human Rights Advisory Committee report’s on the impact of new technologies intended for climate protection on the enjoyment of human rights (A/HRC/54/47) as well as the findings and recommendations on technology in the previous reports of the Special Rapporteur on intersectionality (A/HRC/56/46) and access to information (A/79/176). The report will also draw from the Advisory Opinions of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the International Court of Justice on State obligations on climate change, in particular their convergent findings on applicability of international environmental law, including on biodiversity, desertification and the law of the sea.

The report will explore the application of the human right to science – as discussed in the Rapporteur’s report on access to information (A/79/176, paras 51-56) and in the Inter-American Court’s Advisory Opinion – as a basis to clarify obligations and guarantees for the protection of human right to a healthy environment and the right to development in the context of climate-related technologies.

The report will aim to make constructive and concrete recommendations on the application of human rights law and of the ecosystem and precautionary approaches to the prioritization, funding, development, testing, and deployment of technologies that can contribute to climate change mitigation, adaptation, and/or responses to loss and damage. The report will seek to clarify the international human rights obligations of States, individually and as part of international cooperation, and of intergovernmental organizations, as well as the human rights responsibilities of business, funders and researchers.

The deadline for submission was extended to 30 September 2026. The report for the 81st session of the UN General Assembly will focus on carbon offsets and human rights. → Submit your input

Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights

The exposure of people to a myriad of harmful substances without their prior informed consent is a human rights issue. However, it is a human rights issue for which solutions exist. The mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights seeks to help States, businesses and other stakeholders adopt such solutions.

Bethanie Carney Almroth was appointed Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights in May 2026.

Call for submissions

There are currently no calls for submissions.

Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation

The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation was initially established by the UN Human Rights Council in March 2008 as the Independent Expert on the issue of human rights obligations related to access to safe drinking water and sanitation. The Human Rights Council extended the mandate on water and sanitation in March 2011 and changed its title to Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation. The Special Rapporteur, Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, carries out thematic research, undertakes country missions, collects good practices, and works with development practitioners on the implementation of the rights to water and sanitation.

The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation was established to:

• focus on the issue of human rights obligations related to access to safe drinking water and sanitation;
• carry out thematic research;
• undertake country missions;
• collect good practices; and
• work with development practitioners on the implementation of the rights to water and sanitation.

Call for submissions

There are currently no calls for submissions.

Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples

In 2001, the Commission on Human Rights decided to appoint a Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, as part of the system of thematic Special Procedures. The Special Rapporteur’s mandate was renewed by the Commission on Human Rights in 2004, and by the Human Rights Council in 2007. It was most recently renewed in 2019 in resolution 42/20. Albert K. Barume was appointed Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples in March 2020 and took up the role on 1 May 2020.

The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples was created to:

• Promote good practices, including new laws, government programs, and constructive agreements between Indigenous Peoples and states, to implement international standards concerning the rights of Indigenous Peoples;
• Make recommendations and proposals on appropriate measures to prevent and remedy violations of the rights of Indigenous Peoples;
• Report on the human rights situations of Indigenous Peoples around the world;
• Address specific cases of alleged violations of Indigenous Peoples’ rights.

Call for Contributions

There are currently no calls for submissions.

Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders

The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, first established by the Human Rights Commission in 2000 and renewed by the Human Rights Council in 2020, aims to promote the effective implementation of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.

Mary Lawlor is the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders since 1 May 2020. As part of her mandate to seek, receive and respond to information on the situation of human rights defenders, including environmental defenders. In her report to HRC46, she stated that among 1,323 human rights defenders killed since 2015, EHRDs are the most targeted (A/HRC/46/35).

Call for Contributions

There are currently no calls for submissions.

UN Secretary-General / Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

Sumaúma Pledging Tree for Human Rights-Based Climate Action

For decades, the environmental justice movement, international human rights experts and the people on the frontlines of the human rights crisis have been demanding action, guided by human rights, to stop climate change, build climate resilience and remedy climate harms.

The Sumaúma Pledging Tree for Human Rights-Based Climate Action, an initiative launched by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the COP30 Special Envoy on Human Rights and Just Transition, the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change at COP30 and the ministry of Human Rights and Climate Change of Brazil, seeks to address the undeniable devastation created by climate change and interrelated crises including pollution, biodiversity loss, ocean acidification, water and food insecurity, etc), and support action aligned with the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice which found that States have human rights obligations relative to climate change and a duty to prevent significant harm to the environment, including the climate system.

The initiative bears the name of the Sumaúma tree, referred to by many Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon rainforest as the tree of life, and invites different stakeholders to make commitments to the Pledging Tree and be a part of the collective solution, the global mutirão, humanity needs to stop climate change, remedy its worst impacts and protect all life as we know it.

The Sumaúma Pledging Tree for Human Rights-Based Climate Action aims to generate climate action pledges from and foster mutual learning across a wide range of actors in order to bring about concrete change towards more effective climate action and greater enjoyment of human rights for all. Please help the Sumauma grow by submitting your stories, initiatives and commitments for human rights-based climate action through the questionnaires in the submissions page.

The deadline for submission is 19 September 2026. → Submit your input

Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967

Environmental destruction and its human rights impacts in the Occupied Palestinian Territory

Intentional destruction and degradation have long been integral to Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territory. Over decades Israel has systematically constrained Palestinians’ ability to enjoy access, use and sustainably manage their land, waters, air and other natural resources, as well as climate-adaptive technologies through a combination of practices. The resulting environmental degradation has devastated Palestinian food and water sovereignty and inflicted profound harm on their human right to a healthy environment and their right to physical and mental health, for generations.

Since October 2023, environmental destruction in Gaza has reached an unprecedented scale especially especially owing to greenhouse gas and toxic emissions from military activities, and to climate harm arising from the military-caused degradation of forests, soils and the sea. In addition, extensive bombardment and military operations have destroyed or severely damaged agricultural land, water and sanitation systems, waste-management infrastructure, housing and industrial facilities, while generating tens of millions of tonnes of contaminated debris from e.g. destroyed and damaged buildings, roads and factories’ – debris is contaminated with asbestos, unexploded ordinances, and human remains. The intensified destruction and contamination of soil, water, air, and sea with the devastation of agricultural systems and ecosystems will have consequences extending far beyond the period of active hostilities and beyond Gaza’s territorial boundaries.

These ecosystem functions are interconnected across atmospheric, terrestrial, marine and groundwater systems with significance at multiple levels. Environmental damage originating in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is likely to affect neighbouring and non-neighbouring States, shared ecosystems and migratory species, and to accelerate global heating. The trans-boundary and cumulative nature of such harm therefore requires the environmental consequences of the occupation and hostilities to be assessed not only within territorial boundaries, but also in light of the broader duties of prevention, cooperation and environmental protection under international law.

Some environmental and ecosystem harms are immediate and visible; others unfold slowly and cumulatively over years and across generations. Toxic contamination, air pollution, soil degradation, destruction of water systems, harm to the climate system and loss of biodiversity are likely to affect human and non-human life long after their immediate causes have ceased. These harms are compounded by existing climate vulnerabilities and impose substantial remediation burdens on communities whose institutions and infrastructure have themselves been devastated.

The study will examine these developments within the broader context of Israel’s unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian territory, as affirmed by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in its Advisory Opinion of 19 July 2024, and Palestinians’ right to self-determination. It will also consider relevant international human rights law, international humanitarian law and international criminal law, including the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, and examine how legal, security and environmental narratives are invoked to justify, normalise or obscure environmental destruction. The study will further draw on the law of State responsibility; the 21 May 2024 Advisory Opinion of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) on climate change, particularly its findings concerning transboundary environmental harm and marine pollution from land-based and atmospheric sources; the ICJ’s 23 July 2025 Advisory Opinion on States’ obligations in respect of climate change, particularly its findings regarding state duties to prevent significant environmental harm, including future and cumulative risks of such harm; as well as the criminal proceedings before the International Criminal Court concerning alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Situation in the State of Palestine.

The report will therefore examine patterns of deliberate and systematic environmental destruction and degradation arising from Israel’s occupation and military and settler operations, tracing their impacts from the extraction, manufacture and transportation of materials and technologies through their deployment, contamination and waste, to remediation and reconstruction, including the preservation of evidence. It will assess their cumulative and intergenerational consequences for Palestinian life, health, livelihoods, food systems, cultural knowledge and practices, displacement, return, reconstruction and the enjoyment of human rights. The study will also consider the extent to which such harms may be irreversible or incapable of full remediation.

The deadline for submission is 1 November 2026. → Submit your input