The United Nations (UN) has started investigation into human
rights abuses associated with the global shipping industry and
exposure to toxic chemicals without prior consent.
![image](/2020/10/lawreport.jpg")
Through its Human Rights Agency (UNOHCR), it has appointed a
Special Rapporteur to look into these issues and report back.
![image](/2020/10/NWLRland.jpg")
Earlier this week, a special investigation in Forbes revealed a
growing scandal behind this year’s hasty introduction of a highly
hazardous and experimental type of oil in ships.
The ship fuel is called Very Low Sulfur Fuel Oil or VLSFO. It
contains a wide variety of undefined toxic chemicals, is now in
70per cent of all ships, and is likely to be an important focus for
the inquiry. This fuel – which NGOs have referred to as a
super-pollutant ‘Frankenstein Fuel’ – is already suspected as a
leading root cause of many shipping disasters around the world,
putting the lives of sailors and coastal communities at risk, due
to the use of unknown and highly volatile chemicals.
The lead investigator for the UN Human Rights Agency has already
begun interviewing officials at the global shipping regulator, the
International Maritime Organization. The inquiry will continue
collecting evidence through to January 31, 2021.
The investigation will cover both the human rights implications
for seafarers on vessels who would have been exposed to the effects
of toxic chemicals, as well as to those impacted by oil spills,
such as islanders in Mauritius this year and Solomon Islands last
year.
The global body has called the exposure of people to harmful
substances without their prior informed consent a human rights
abuse. It has also said it is a human rights issue for which
solutions exist. The question the rapporteur will focus on is why
known solutions had not been applied in the shipping industry.
The U.N. has been looking at human rights abuses linked to
hazardous substances since a formal mandate was established by the
U.N. Human Rights Council 25 years ago in 1995. On 6 October 2020,
the U.N. Human Rights Council passed a resolution to look deeper
into several issues associated with exposure to harmful substances
without prior consent.
The Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights is Dr. Marcos
Orellana who was appointed earlier this year by the UN Human Rights
body.
Orellana teaches Environmental Law at George Washington
University School of Law in the United States, and had been
involved in several high profile environmental justice cases. These
have covered international human rights law and the environment
including presenting at the U.N. Human Rights Council,
International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea, and in participating
in international negotiations on Climate Change. He was worked
extensively with Governments and NGOs around the world.
The Head of the UN Human Rights Commission – former two term
President of Chile Michelle Bachelet – has been a strong advocate
for protecting Human Rights of what she describes as the planet’s
‘Environmental Defenders.’
In 2019, Bachelet brought up these human rights issues against
environmentalists at the U.N. Human Rights Council, specifically
highlighting the verbal attacks against the then 16 year old
climate activist Greta Thunberg.
In August last year, the UN Humans Right Office signed a formal
agreement with the UN’s Environment Protection Program (UNEP) to
strengthen human rights and the planet.
At the time, UN Human Rights Chief, Michelle Bachelet said, “Our
planet is being recklessly destroyed, and we urgently need stronger
global partnerships to take action to save it. We call on leaders
and governments to recognize that climate change and environmental
degradation severely undermine the human rights of their people,
particularly those in vulnerable situations – including the
generations of tomorrow.”
“We encourage every State to develop and enforce national legal
frameworks which uphold the clear linkages between a healthy
environment and the ability to enjoy all other human rights,
including the rights to health, water, food – and even the right to
life,” she added. “We also strongly encourage greater recognition
that the actions and advocacy of environmental human rights
defenders are deeply beneficial to all societies. They must be
better protected against the threat of violence and
intimidation.”
Reports suggest that more than four environmental defenders were
killed across the world every week in 2019. This rate has doubled
in the last 15 years. The latest death toll highlights the ongoing
dangers facing those who are defending their environmental and
human rights.
This is the first time the global shipping industry has been
subject to such a wide ranging Human Rights inquiry over exposure
to toxins without consent.
The inquiry will also look into many of the root causes for how
the industry has allowed such a situation to develop in shipping,
such as poorly drafted laws, little oversight and monitoring of
these laws, deliberately weak enforcement, pressure on poorer
nations and communities to be responsible for cleaning up the risks
caused by large shipping firms.
There has been a growing spate of maritime incidents that many
local communities around the world have been calling for justice
on. These include communities in Trinidad, Venezuela, Sri Lanka,
around the coast of the Red Sea, Mauritius and Lebanon just this
year alone.
There are three themes that are likely to be particularly
important for the investigation into shipping, human rights and
toxins.
The Special Rapporteur has highlighted that he will look at both
toxins spilled from ships, as well as air pollution released from
ships that are adding to the climate crisis.
Climate crisis: Indigenous communities in Arctic nations, and
coastal communities on low lying island nations are particularly
impacted by melting ice caps, rising sea levels and more acidifying
oceans impacting coral reef protection. This year, the global
shipping industry not only decided to break with Paris Climate
Agreement pledges, but the Secretary General of the IMO actively
tried to undermine the EU’s own carbon emission regulations for
shipping. This is in addition to the U.K. Parliament already
calling the IMO no longer ‘fit for purpose,’ for its stance on
climate issues. Global shipping has been particularly criticized
for using toxic chemicals in ship fuels across the Arctic that
could accelerate climate change.
Toxins in ship oil (especially the VLSFO ‘Frankenstein Fuel’):
The Special Rapporteur will also be looking at the risk of oil
pollution, which has been increasing as ships have become larger,
and yet ship designs and protection have not kept pace, a sign of
major regulatory failure. The fuel now used by 70per cent of ships,
called VLSFO and which was introduced this year, is likely to be a
major focus for the Special Rapporteur.
Tens of thousands in Mauritius were exposed to VLSFO in the
summer, and the shipping companies responsible have not provided a
full chemical analysis breakdown of the toxins that the population
was exposed to, including what the health risks are. This
represents a major human rights abuse, as many in South East
Mauritius who were exposed have been reporting serious health
conditions (e.g., skin infections, breathing difficulties and
mental illness), that have not been taken seriously by the
companies responsible for bringing the pollution to Mauritius.
Other communities impacted by ship fuel spills like Solomon Islands
last year have seen similar experiences.
Gender impact of oil spills: Oil spills have a disproportionate
impact on women. The chemicals have a much more significant on
female reproductive organs and health, affecting the health of
unborn children. Many women faced greater social and financial
pressures following the oil spill as they had been employed in the
informal sector (e.g., supporting husbands in the fishing business
or making tourist products to be sold on informal beach stands),
and so were not eligible for any compensation from funds allocated
to the response. The gender dimension was completely dismissed by
the companies and countries responding to the oil spill disaster in
Mauritius, where in over 100 international consultants, not one was
female. This created additional conflict in a country like
Mauritius, where it was actually many of the female leaders who had
led the response to the oil spill and the fight for environmental
and social justice.
Human rights abuses in the response to the oil spill: In what is
likely to be a damning assessment of the corporate response to the
oil spill in Mauritius, the Special Rapporteur’s scope includes
evaluating potential human rights abuses in how the oil spill was
responded to. In Mauritius, the response by companies responsible
saw a massive disruption of the social cohesion of Mauritius. The
grassroots led movement that built the artisanal oil protection
booms were sidelined by over 100 unaccountable international
consultants who never once held a joint press conference to explain
what was going on nor allowed any independent oversight of the
cleanup techniques they were deploying.
The United Nations (UN) has started investigation into human
rights abuses associated with the global shipping industry and
exposure to toxic chemicals without prior consent.
Through its Human Rights Agency (UNOHCR), it has appointed a
Special Rapporteur to look into these issues and report back.
Earlier this week, a special investigation in Forbes revealed a
growing scandal behind this year’s hasty introduction of a highly
hazardous and experimental type of oil in ships.
The ship fuel is called Very Low Sulfur Fuel Oil or VLSFO. It
contains a wide variety of undefined toxic chemicals, is now in
70per cent of all ships, and is likely to be an important focus for
the inquiry. This fuel – which NGOs have referred to as a
super-pollutant ‘Frankenstein Fuel’ – is already suspected as a
leading root cause of many shipping disasters around the world,
putting the lives of sailors and coastal communities at risk, due
to the use of unknown and highly volatile chemicals.
The lead investigator for the UN Human Rights Agency has already
begun interviewing officials at the global shipping regulator, the
International Maritime Organization. The inquiry will continue
collecting evidence through to January 31, 2021.
The investigation will cover both the human rights implications
for seafarers on vessels who would have been exposed to the effects
of toxic chemicals, as well as to those impacted by oil spills,
such as islanders in Mauritius this year and Solomon Islands last
year.
The global body has called the exposure of people to harmful
substances without their prior informed consent a human rights
abuse. It has also said it is a human rights issue for which
solutions exist. The question the rapporteur will focus on is why
known solutions had not been applied in the shipping industry.
The U.N. has been looking at human rights abuses linked to
hazardous substances since a formal mandate was established by the
U.N. Human Rights Council 25 years ago in 1995. On 6 October 2020,
the U.N. Human Rights Council passed a resolution to look deeper
into several issues associated with exposure to harmful substances
without prior consent.
The Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights is Dr. Marcos
Orellana who was appointed earlier this year by the UN Human Rights
body.
Orellana teaches Environmental Law at George Washington
University School of Law in the United States, and had been
involved in several high profile environmental justice cases. These
have covered international human rights law and the environment
including presenting at the U.N. Human Rights Council,
International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea, and in participating
in international negotiations on Climate Change. He was worked
extensively with Governments and NGOs around the world.
The Head of the UN Human Rights Commission – former two term
President of Chile Michelle Bachelet – has been a strong advocate
for protecting Human Rights of what she describes as the planet’s
‘Environmental Defenders.’
In 2019, Bachelet brought up these human rights issues against
environmentalists at the U.N. Human Rights Council, specifically
highlighting the verbal attacks against the then 16 year old
climate activist Greta Thunberg.
In August last year, the UN Humans Right Office signed a formal
agreement with the UN’s Environment Protection Program (UNEP) to
strengthen human rights and the planet.
At the time, UN Human Rights Chief, Michelle Bachelet said, “Our
planet is being recklessly destroyed, and we urgently need stronger
global partnerships to take action to save it. We call on leaders
and governments to recognize that climate change and environmental
degradation severely undermine the human rights of their people,
particularly those in vulnerable situations – including the
generations of tomorrow.”
“We encourage every State to develop and enforce national legal
frameworks which uphold the clear linkages between a healthy
environment and the ability to enjoy all other human rights,
including the rights to health, water, food – and even the right to
life,” she added. “We also strongly encourage greater recognition
that the actions and advocacy of environmental human rights
defenders are deeply beneficial to all societies. They must be
better protected against the threat of violence and
intimidation.”
Reports suggest that more than four environmental defenders were
killed across the world every week in 2019. This rate has doubled
in the last 15 years. The latest death toll highlights the ongoing
dangers facing those who are defending their environmental and
human rights.
This is the first time the global shipping industry has been
subject to such a wide ranging Human Rights inquiry over exposure
to toxins without consent.
The inquiry will also look into many of the root causes for how
the industry has allowed such a situation to develop in shipping,
such as poorly drafted laws, little oversight and monitoring of
these laws, deliberately weak enforcement, pressure on poorer
nations and communities to be responsible for cleaning up the risks
caused by large shipping firms.
There has been a growing spate of maritime incidents that many
local communities around the world have been calling for justice
on. These include communities in Trinidad, Venezuela, Sri Lanka,
around the coast of the Red Sea, Mauritius and Lebanon just this
year alone.
There are three themes that are likely to be particularly
important for the investigation into shipping, human rights and
toxins.
The Special Rapporteur has highlighted that he will look at both
toxins spilled from ships, as well as air pollution released from
ships that are adding to the climate crisis.
Climate crisis: Indigenous communities in Arctic nations, and
coastal communities on low lying island nations are particularly
impacted by melting ice caps, rising sea levels and more acidifying
oceans impacting coral reef protection. This year, the global
shipping industry not only decided to break with Paris Climate
Agreement pledges, but the Secretary General of the IMO actively
tried to undermine the EU’s own carbon emission regulations for
shipping. This is in addition to the U.K. Parliament already
calling the IMO no longer ‘fit for purpose,’ for its stance on
climate issues. Global shipping has been particularly criticized
for using toxic chemicals in ship fuels across the Arctic that
could accelerate climate change.
Toxins in ship oil (especially the VLSFO ‘Frankenstein Fuel’):
The Special Rapporteur will also be looking at the risk of oil
pollution, which has been increasing as ships have become larger,
and yet ship designs and protection have not kept pace, a sign of
major regulatory failure. The fuel now used by 70per cent of ships,
called VLSFO and which was introduced this year, is likely to be a
major focus for the Special Rapporteur.
Tens of thousands in Mauritius were exposed to VLSFO in the
summer, and the shipping companies responsible have not provided a
full chemical analysis breakdown of the toxins that the population
was exposed to, including what the health risks are. This
represents a major human rights abuse, as many in South East
Mauritius who were exposed have been reporting serious health
conditions (e.g., skin infections, breathing difficulties and
mental illness), that have not been taken seriously by the
companies responsible for bringing the pollution to Mauritius.
Other communities impacted by ship fuel spills like Solomon Islands
last year have seen similar experiences.
Gender impact of oil spills: Oil spills have a disproportionate
impact on women. The chemicals have a much more significant on
female reproductive organs and health, affecting the health of
unborn children. Many women faced greater social and financial
pressures following the oil spill as they had been employed in the
informal sector (e.g., supporting husbands in the fishing business
or making tourist products to be sold on informal beach stands),
and so were not eligible for any compensation from funds allocated
to the response. The gender dimension was completely dismissed by
the companies and countries responding to the oil spill disaster in
Mauritius, where in over 100 international consultants, not one was
female. This created additional conflict in a country like
Mauritius, where it was actually many of the female leaders who had
led the response to the oil spill and the fight for environmental
and social justice.
Human rights abuses in the response to the oil spill: In what is
likely to be a damning assessment of the corporate response to the
oil spill in Mauritius, the Special Rapporteur’s scope includes
evaluating potential human rights abuses in how the oil spill was
responded to. In Mauritius, the response by companies responsible
saw a massive disruption of the social cohesion of Mauritius. The
grassroots led movement that built the artisanal oil protection
booms were sidelined by over 100 unaccountable international
consultants who never once held a joint press conference to explain
what was going on nor allowed any independent oversight of the
cleanup techniques they were deploying.