International Rights of Nature Tribunal, 6th International Hearing: New York 2024/2025

Summary

In September 2024, the “End of Fossil Fuels Tribunal 2024,” held during Climate Week in New York, dealt with the damages inflicted by the fossil fuel industry. It served as a critical platform to emphasize the urgent need to rethink societal reliance on fossil fuels, addressing their extensive contribution to the climate crisis through emissions and ecological damage. This Tribunal underscored the necessity of transitioning to low-carbon infrastructures to mitigate these impacts, albeit cautiously noting the pitfalls of ‘green extractivism,’ where the mining of minerals for renewable technologies poses new environmental challenges.

In February 2025, the “Impacts of Mining and the Post-Extractivism Era Tribunal 2025” focuses on the environmental and human rights consequences of global mining activities, with a special emphasis on the operations of Canadian mining companies. This Tribunal, set to occur in Toronto, highlights the severe and widespread impact of mining practices, including deforestation, toxic spills, and violations of indigenous rights. The event aims to challenge these practices by aligning with the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada’s annual conference, spotlighting the contradiction between ongoing resource extraction and environmental stewardship.

This Tribunal is part of GARN’s road towards the UNFCCC COP30 held in Bélem, Brazil in November 2025, and the findings of both sessions will be presented at COP30 in Bélem during the Tribunal session: ‘A New Pact with Mother Earth’. It represents a growing international effort to legally and socially address the rights of nature against exploitative industrial practices. It aims to forge a path toward more sustainable and respectful interactions with the Earth’s resources, advocating for a systemic shift that considers both environmental preservation and human rights​

Involved Organizations