8 Amendments of Marisa MATIAS related to 2020/2273(INI)
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Stresses that the degradation of ecosystems and the stress on them caused by climate change is leading to the extinction of species and the loss of biodiversity at unprecedented rates and is threatening the human rights of current and future generations, such as the rights to life, health, food, water and sanitation, as well as the rights of the most vulnerable people, including women and children, the rights of indigenous peoples and the rights of rural and natural-resource-dependent communities; also emphasises that the degradation of and stress on ecosystems is undermining progress towards the achievement of most of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, in particular the objectives of ending poverty and hunger, achieving food security and ensuring healthy lives; stresses that environmental justice is part of social justice and the impacts of climate change and loss of biodiversity are more destructive in developing countries, thus exacerbating social and economic inequalities;
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Takes note that the economic crisis that is expected to result from the pandemic may push states to divert away from the environment protection in order to stimulate short-term economic growth;
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Welcomes the intention of the Commission to develop a new European biodiversity governance framework and to follow an inclusive approach involving civil society in a compliance watchdog role to monitor the implementation of EU environmental legislation; also welcomes its aim to put forward a new initiative in 2021 on sustainable corporate governance to address human rights and environmental due diligence across economic value chains; insists in this regard on the need to elaborate EU legislation for mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence for EU companies, EU-domiciled companies and third-country companies operating in the internal market, imposing legal obligations to identify, cease, prevent and mitigate adverse impacts throughout their supply chains and establishing effective monitoring and enforcement mechanisms; in this respect, calls on the EU to make the fight against impunity one of its key priorities by creating instruments which allows for a full, effective and sustained implementation of human rights and environmental laws and its enforcement;
Amendment 43 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the Commission to mainstream biodiversity as a human right in EU external action and promote ambitious biodiversity-related policies in international fora, in accordance with the European Green Deal and the new EU Biodiversity Strategy; also calls on the Commission to deal with cooperation issues related to the conservation of biodiversity and respect for international environmental and human rights obligations in a common and consistent way, in particular through EU international comprehensive and sectoral agreements and political dialogues with partner countries; urges the Commission, in this regard, to make the most of human rights and sustainable development impact assessments and related recommendations; also calls on the Commission to draw up guidelines on the human right to a clean, healthy, safe and sustainable environment; supports the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment to push for global recognition of the right to live in a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment as a human and fundamental right; calls on the Union and the Member States to support, at the next UN General Assembly, the global recognition of this right; considers that this recognition should serve as a catalyst for stronger environmental policies and improved law enforcement, public participation in environmental decision- making, access to information and justice and better outcomes for people and planet;
Amendment 46 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Calls on the Commission to secure the independence of impact assessment studies prior to the conclusion of trade and cooperation agreements and the implementation of development projects, with a specific focus on measuring and preventing their effects on the rights and lives of local populations; insists that impact assessments must be conducted with the significant participation of civil society and local communities and that the findings be duly taken into account in economic agreements and development projects; calls on the Commission to reassess the execution of projects in the event of human rights violations;
Amendment 53 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Pays tribute to defenders of environmental human rights and land rights, local community representatives, lawyers and journalists standing up to protect natural resources, and strongly condemns the killings of such people and violent acts against themenvironmental defenders, as well as kidnappings, torture, gender-based violence, threats, harassment, intimidation, smear campaigns, criminalisation, judicial harassment, forced eviction and displacement; calls on the Commission and the European External Action Service to continue to systematically take up cases of defenders of environmental human rights and land rights facing threats of violence with the countries concerned; urges the Commission to define a specific protection and support strategy for local communities and defenders of environmental human rights and land rights; also calls for enhanced support for civil society organisations working to protect the environment and biodiversity, in particular through the establishment of partnerships and the building up of capacity to defend the rights of indigenous peoples and to acknowledge their contributions, experiences and knowledge to the fight against biodiversity loss and environmental degradation; underlines their specific role and expertise in land management and preservation and calls for increased cooperation with and inclusion of indigenous peoples as well as to strive for the strengthening of their democratic participation in relevant decision making process; calls the EU not to finance projects which could contribute to evicting indigenous peoples from their homelands; recommends that EU Member States, which have not done so, to ratify International Labour Organisation Convention 169 on Indigenous and Tribal peoples;
Amendment 61 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Calls on the representatives of the EU and the Member States who will participate in the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 15) in May 2021 in Kunming, China, to advocate for biodiversity and ensure that global action on biodiversity and related objectives are linked to respect for the rights to life, health, food and water, as well as the human rights of women and children; strongly supports, in this regard, the integration of human rights in the COP 15 post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework and calls for the establishment of nature conservation objectives at global and national level, building on the fundamental right to a clean, healthy, safe and sustainable environment;
Amendment 64 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Welcomes the commitment of the EU heads of state and governments under the ‘Leaders’ Pledge for Nature’ to end environmental crimes, and with this aim, to ensure effective and dissuasive legal frameworks; urges, in this regard, the EU and the Member States to redouble their efforts to honour their obligations relating to environmental crimes and to promote an international approach to environmental criminal law; calls for the setting up of legal frameworks to ensure access to effective remedies in cases of loss and degradation of biodiversity; encourages the EU and the Member States to pursue new initiatives in order to make ‘ecocide’ a crime recognised under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and to include corporate criminal responsibility in its provisions; recommends that the scope of the serious human rights violations covered by the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime be extended to include environmental crimes.