A/HRC/RES/21/17
2.
Requests the new Special Rapporteur, in accordance with his mandate, to
provide comprehensive and up-to-date information on the adverse effects that the improper
management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes may have on the full
enjoyment of human rights, for example, information on:
(a)
The human rights issues raised by transnational corporations and other
business enterprises in connection with the environmentally sound management and
disposal of hazardous substances and wastes;
(b)
The scope of national legislation relating to the human rights implications of
the management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes;
(c)
The human rights implications of waste-recycling programmes and the
transfer of polluting industries, industrial activities and technologies from one country to
another and new trends therein, including e-waste and the dismantling of ships;
(d)
Support and assistance to victims of human rights violations relating to the
environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes;
(e)
The ambiguities in international instruments that allow the movement and
dumping of hazardous substances and wastes, and any gaps in the effectiveness of
international regulatory mechanisms;
(f)
Human rights abuses and violations committed against human rights
defenders owing to their activities relating to the environmentally sound management and
disposal of hazardous substances and wastes;
3.
Encourages the Special Rapporteur to fulfil his mandate in close cooperation
with the United Nations Environment Programme, relevant United Nations agencies, such
as the World Health Organization and the International Labour Organization, and the
secretariats of the international environmental conventions with a view to mainstreaming
human rights into their work and to avoiding duplication;
4.
Urges the Special Rapporteur to continue his consultations with the
competent United Nations agencies and organizations and the secretariats of relevant
international environmental conventions concerning a multidisciplinary, in-depth approach
to existing problems, and to take due account of progress made in other bodies, as well as to
identify gaps, with a view to finding lasting solutions for the management of such
substances and wastes and to preparing a progress report thereon, with specific
recommendations and proposals on the steps to be taken immediately to address the adverse
effects on human rights of hazardous substances and wastes, and to submit that report to the
Human Rights Council at its twenty-fourth session;
5.
Also urges the Special Rapporteur to develop, in consultation with relevant
stakeholders and with the support of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights, a guide to best practices regarding the human rights obligations related to the
environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes, and
to submit the guide together with his report to the Human Rights Council at its twentyseventh session;
6.
Encourages the Special Rapporteur, in accordance with his mandate and with
the support and assistance of the Office of the High Commissioner, to continue to provide
Governments with an appropriate opportunity to respond to allegations transmitted to him
and reflected in his report, and to have their observations reflected in his report to the
Human Rights Council;
7.
Reiterates its call to States and other stakeholders to facilitate the work of the
Special Rapporteur by providing information and inviting him to undertake country visits;
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