Jorge Daniel Taillant es fundador de CEDHA y dirige su trabajo en glaciares y minería

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This letter, signed by 512 concerned individuals, organizations and coalitions, was sent to the United Nations Working Group on the Issue of Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises on January 20th, 2016: [download the letter in PDF]

January 20, 2016

 

TO: United Nations Working Group on the Issue of Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and other Business Enterprises

CC:
Inter-American Human Rights Commission
UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and environment
UN Special Rapporteur on indigenous peoples
UN Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation
UN Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health

Dear Members of the UN Working Group on Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises:

We and the 511 undersigned individuals, organizations and coalitions from around the world, contact you with a growing global human rights concern due to the evolution of a socially and environmentally high-risk corporate activity called hydraulic fracturing.

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a recent but rapidly evolving industrial process carried out by the oil and gas industry. It consists of drilling into the ground, injecting water, silica, and toxic chemicals deep into layers of shale rock at very high pressure, opening joints and cracks in the shale, that in turn mobilize oil and gas trapped in this source rock.

Unlike conventional oil and gas operations, fracking shale formations employs voluminous quantities of fresh water, typically over 20,000,000 litres for each well. It also generates large quantities of liquid toxic waste for which there are no adequate safe disposal facilities. This liquid fracking waste is usually disposed of in underground industrial waste injection wells, can be radioactive, and can also leak into groundwater. Such wells have also been shown to induced seismicity. Fracking waste water is also sometimes flushed into surface water through wastewater treatment plants incapable of handling such waste. Solid fracking waste, which can also be radioactive, is simply buried into the ground at fracking sites or at landfills. All of these processes generate large-scale human and environmental safety risks.

Since concern over fracking operations began to surface around the world over the past decade, over 600 peer-reviewed scientific studies[1] and thousands of journalistic reports have shown that fracking causes significant adverse social and environmental impacts. These include numerous environmental impacts such as water contamination, air pollution, earthquakes, deforestation, contamination of surface and groundwater by fracking chemicals, hydrocarbons, petroleum waste products and radioactive waste, as well as land scarring, and impacts to wildlife areas. Fracking is also responsible for significant social impacts including noise pollution, property value decreases, increased traffic accidents and deaths, rapid industrialization of residential areas, negative boomtown effects and community fragmentation. Most worrisome are the human health related impacts of fracking, which include impacts such as respiratory illness, nausea, skin irritations and birth defects.

At the local level, people living near fracking areas report a broad range of adverse health impacts attributable to exposure to fracking chemicals, hydrocarbon and other emissions from fracking drill sites and infrastructure. Fracking chemicals in particular can harm and impair every human system.[2] The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and independent scientists have identified over 1,000 chemical ingredients utilized as fracking fluids, which are injected into the ground.[3] The EPA notes the risks of fracking to health due to potential contamination of waterways, citing “specific instances where one or more mechanisms led to impacts on drinking water resources, including contamination of drinking water wells.”

The most notorious documented fracking studies come from the oil and gas industry itself, showing for example, that failed underground casings and cement sheaths, which allow fracking fluids and hydrocarbons to contaminate underground sources of drinking water and vent methane directly into the atmosphere, happen at staggering rates. About five percent of all oil and gas wells leak immediately upon drilling and nearly 60% leak after a 30-year period, according to one well-known oil and gas company’s study of leakage. A presentation sponsored by Petroleum Engineers declared that about 35% of all oil and gas wells in the world are currently leaking.[4]

Fracking operations rarely engage stakeholders in decisions regarding land-use or expansion of operations, including into indigenous lands. In some cases, fracking investment decisions are made under secretive negotiations and communities face brutal police repression when trying to engage governments and companies on investment decisions.

Globally, the cumulative impact of fracking is also profound. Despite industry claims that fracked natural gas will help to address climate change by replacing other CO2 emitting energies with a more climate-friendly alternative, the inadequacy of technology currently employed in fracking operations results in in the release of large quantities of fugitive methane into the atmosphere. Considering that methane gas is approximately 72-100 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than CO2, fracking is exacerbating climate change, not mitigating it.

Evidently, fracking impacts place virtually all human rights at risk, including the right to health, the right to water, food, land, property, a healthy environment, self-determination, work, a decent standard of living, and access to information, access to justice, as well as to freedom of expression and participation. Even the most essential and basic human right, the right to life, is at risk from hydraulic fracturing.

In view of these risks, many governments, including in the states and provinces of Texas, New York, Colorado, Maryland, Vermont, and New Brunswick and Quebec, as well as countries like France, Bulgaria and Germany, have taken a cautious approach to the industry. After lengthy consideration and numerous studies, they have either banned or decided to suspend fracking operations until further information on the social and environmental risks and impacts is available.

Despite risks, other governments have cut corners in developing their energy policy, plans, and investments, failing to consult with stakeholders, including denying consultative and participatory rights to indigenous peoples, while companies have failed in their due diligence procedures to identify, assess and address the human rights dimensions of this industrial activity.


Request to the Working Group:

The purpose of this letter is to bring the issue of hydraulic fracturing to the attention of the UN Working Group on Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises, and to call on the Working Group to engage its focus on the potential human rights violations caused by business practices conducting hydraulic fracturing operations. We would like to stress that the types of impacts caused by hydraulic fracturing are of paramount significance to the mandate of the Working Group, given its profound implications to the realization of human rights, including in relation to the State duty to protect human rights, the corporate responsibility to respect human rights, and the rights of victims to access effective remedy for human rights violations they face in these practices.

Fracking operations, including exploration, extraction, processing, storage, and transportation activities, are on the rise across the globe. As this practice evolves, human rights issues will continue to be at the center of local conflict and debate about its evolution. For this reason, now is the time for the Working Group to engage, to acquire knowledge about the practice and its human rights implications, to understand the risks it poses to human rights, and most importantly, to help guide society to address these impacts before they materialize and to remediate them once they have occurred.

 

We encourage the Working Group to:

  • Adopt a precautionary approach to hydraulic fracturing, and given the already widely available and documented information regarding health and environmental impacts caused by hydraulic fracturing, issue a statement of concern over the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing operations to human rights;
  • Engage with States, academics, the oil and gas sector, human rights organizations and with other interested stakeholder groups, to scope out the relevant human rights issues involved in hydraulic fracturing operations;
  • Engage with like-minded partners and seek assistance to develop a white paper on the human rights implications, risks and impacts of hydraulic fracturing;
  • Engage with specialists to develop guidance materials for States and for oil and gas companies, to adequately consider human rights impacts and conduct assessments before, during and after any intended or ongoing hydraulic fracturing operations;
  • Invite information from stakeholder groups, including alleged individual and community victims of hydraulic fracturing operations to inform the working group as to their concerns over actual, potential or alleged human rights risks and impacts caused to them by hydraulic fracturing operations;

We stand ready to assist you in this endeavor.

Yours Sincerely,

 

Josh Fox                                      Jorge Daniel Taillant                                Paloma Munoz Quick
Film Director of Gasland      Executive Director, CHRE/CEDHA       Human Rights and Business Advisor


SIGNING INVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS

Individuals

  1. Adrienne Wong
  2. Anthony R. Ingraffea, Dwight C. Baum Professor of Engineering Emeritus at Cornell University
  3. Bethany Yarrow, Musician, Organizer
  4. Bill McKibben, 350.org
  5. Bridget Shields, Outreach director/Marcellus Protest-Shalefield Stories
  6. Damien Gillis, Director and Producer of Fractured Land
  7. Dorothea Tachler, Musician
  8. Benjamin R. Barber, Senior Research Scholar, The City University of New York
  9. Nicola Charwat, Director of Master of Business Law, Monash University, Australia
  10. Dra Nila Heredia, ALAMES Bolivia, Ex-Minister of Health of Bolivia
  11. Eleanor Walton, Filmmaker
  12. Enrique Julián Gasteazoro, Social Entrepreneur, Business and Human Rights Advisor
  13. Eugenio Vergara, lawyer
  14. Fiona Rayher, Directors and Producers of Fractured Land
  15. Gerard V McGorian, Chairman, The McGorian Group, S.A.
  16. Hans-Josef Fell, German MP 1998-2013, President of the Energy Watch Group
  17. Jan Pemberton
  18. Johannes Förster
  19. Janene Yazzie, Sixth World Solutions and the Little Colorado River Watershed Chapters
  20. Jeremy Leggett, Social entrepreneur and writer
  21. John Fenton, Affected Resident, Pavillion Wyoming
  22. Jon Bowermaster, Filmmaker
  23. José Luis Simón Gómez, Professor of Geology, Zaragoza Universidad
  24. Kathleen Chalfant, Actor
  25. Katrine Lauritsen, Communications Advisor at Amnesty International, Denmark
  26. Keith M Ross
  27. Kevin Bone, Director, Institute for Sustainable Design, The Cooper Union
  28. Louise Morand
  29. Lucy R.Waletzky MD
  30. Mark Ruffalo, Actor, Founder, Water Defense
  31. Marshal Gaddis
  32. Martin Schwarz
  33. Max Gleason
  34. Myles B. Hoenig
  35. Nani Jansen, Lawyer
  36. Natalie Merchant, Musician
  37. Omar Metwally, Actor
  38. Owen Silverman Andrews, Educator and Activist
  39. Patricia J. Popple
  40. Peter Yarrow, Musician, Organizer, Songwriter Peter, Paul and Mary
  41. Rebecca Roter, PA Shalegas Refugee and Chairperson, Breathe Easy Susquehanna County
  42. Robert Estrin
  43. Robert Meitus, Prof. of Law, IU Maurer School of Law, Citizen’s Climate Lobby
  44. Robert W. Howarth, Professor of Ecology & Environmental Biology at Cornell University
  45. Ronald L. Kuby, Civil Rights Lawyer
  46. Rufus Capadoccia, Musician, Organizer
  47. Salvador Herencia Carrasco, Director of Human Rights Clinic, University of Ottawa
  48. Sandra Steingraber, New Yorkers Against Fracking, Author
  49. Gaston Côté, PhD environmental history
  50. Sara Schultz
  51. Soledad Sánchez-Cañamares Ríos, Corporate Social Responsibility Advisor
  52. Stéphane Brousseau, Coalition Eau Secours
  53. Steven Schultz
  54. Tim DeChristopher, Climate Disobedience Center
  55. Tomás Dinges, Journalist
  56. Tonya L. Putnam, Associate Professor of Political Science, Columbia University
  57. Veronica Zubía Pinto, Lawyer
  58. Veronica Zubía Pinto, Lawyer
  59. Vicki Lynn Garrett
  60. Yoko Ono

 

Organizations

 

  1. org
  2. org Brazil
  3. org Loudoun
  4. Abgefrackt Bündnis Weidener Becken gegen Fracking
  5. Action Oriented, Rebecca Sobel, Executive Director
  6. Agenda LGBT (Estado de México)
  7. Aktionsbündnis No Moor Fracking
  8. Alianza Sierra Madre (Chihuahua, Mexico)
  9. Aldershot and District Against Mining
  10. Adelaide Hills Climate Action group
  11. Alerte Pétrole Rive-Sud
  12. Alternativa, Peru
  13. Amazon Watch, Leila Salazar-López, Executive Director
  14. Amigos del Río San Rodrigo
  15. ANC (Asociacion Nacional de Centros)
  16. Andy Gheorghiu Consulting
  17. Apoyo para la Paz, Rocío Silva Santisteban Manrique, Ayacucho, Perú
  18. Arid Lands Environment Centre
  19. Armidale Action on Coal Seam Gas
  20. Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD)
  21. Asistencia Legal por los Derechos Humanos (DF, Mexico)
  22. Asociación Ambiente y Sociedad en Colombia
  23. Asociación ARARIWA, Peru
  24. Asociación Jalisciense de Apoyo a los Grupos Indígenas (Guadalajara, Jal., Mexico);
  25. Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos (APRODEH)
  26. Asociación Servicios Educativos Rurales, Peru
  27. Asociación Interamericana para la Defensa del Ambiente (AIDA)
  28. Australian Student Environment Network (ASEN)
  29. Australians for Animals.
  30. Baffle Creek Protection Group
  31. Ballina Environment Society
  32. Bartolomé de Las Casas (San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chis, Mexico)
  33. Beechmont Community Network.
  34. Bentley Group Against Gas
  35. Berks Gas Truth, Karen Feridun, Founder
  36. Beyond Extreme Energy, Ted Glick, Co-founder
  37. Beyond Zero Emissions
  38. BI lebenswertes Korbach e.V.
  39. Bimblebox Nature Refuge
  40. Bimboola Group
  41. Bisbee & Cochise County People and Environmental Rights
  42. Blicks River Guardians
  43. Blue Mountains Conservation Society
  44. Borislav Sandov, Campaign Coordinator, Foundation for Environment and Agriculture.
  45. Boonah Organisation for a Sustainable Shire
  46. Branxholme Against Gasfields.
  47. Briget Shields, Outreach director/Marcellus Protest-Shalefield Stories
  48. Bungawalbyn Landcare.
  49. Business and Human Rights (BHR), Maria Prandi, Executive Director
  50. Bürgerinitiative gegen CO2-Endlager e.V., Germany
  51. Byaduk Community Action Group
  52. Byron Community Centre.
  53. Byron Environment Centre Inc.
  54. Byron Farmers Market.
  55. Bürgerinitiative gegen atomare Anlagen Weiden-Neustadt/WN
  56. CAFFA- Central Australia Frack Free Alliance
  57. Caldera Environment Centre, Murwillumbah
  58. Casa del Migrante Saltillo (Saltillo, Coah., Mexico)
  59. Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir (DF, Mexico)
  60. Capertee Valley Alliance Inc.
  61. Caroona Coal Action Group.
  62. Casino Environment Centre.
  63. Catskil Citizens for Safe Energy
  64. Centro “Fray Julián Garcés” Derechos Humanos y Desarrollo Local, (Tlaxcala, Tlax, Mexico)
  65. Centro de Apoyo al Trabajador (CAT)
  66. Centro de Derechos Humanos Digna Ochoa, A.C (Tonalá, Chis., Mexico)
  67. Centro de Derechos Humanos “Fray Francisco de Vitoria O.P.” (DF, Mexico)
  68. Centro de Derechos Humanos “Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez”, (DF, Mexico)
  69. Centro de Derechos Humanos “Don Sergio” (Jiutepec, Mor., Mexico)
  70. Centro de Derechos Humanos “Fray Matías de Córdova”, (Tapachula, Chis., Mexico)
  71. Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Montaña, Tlachinollan, (Tlapa, Gro., Mexico)
  72. Centro de Derechos Humanos de las Mujeres (Chihuahua, Mexico)
  73. Centro de Derechos Humanos de los Pueblos del Sur de Veracruz “Bety Cariño”
  74. Centro de Derechos Humanos “Juan Gerardi, (Torreón, Coah, Mexico)
  75. Centro de Derechos Humanos Paso del Norte (Cd. Juárez, Chih, Mexico)
  76. Centro de Derechos Humanos Victoria Diez, (León, Gto., Mexico)
  77. Centro de Derechos Indígenas “Flor y Canto”, (Oaxaca, Oax., Mexico)
  78. Centro de Derechos Humanos Toaltepeyolo (Orizaba, Veracruz, Mexico)
  79. Centro de Derechos Indígenas A. C. (Bachajón, Chis., Mexico)
  80. Centro de los Derechos del Migrante (DF, Mexico)
  81. Centro de Justicia para la Paz y el Desarrollo, (CEPAD) (Guadalajara, Jal., Mexico)
  82. Centro de Reflexión y Acción Laboral (CEREAL-DF) (DF, Mexico)
  83. Centro de Reflexión y Acción Laboral (CEREAL-Guadalajara, Mexico)
  84. Centro Diocesano para los Derechos Humanos “Fray Juan de Larios”
  85. Centro Juvenil Generando Dignidad (Comalcalco, Tabasco, Mexico)
  86. Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental (CEMDA)
  87. Centro Mujeres (La Paz, BCS.)
  88. Centro Prodh
  89. Centro Regional de Defensa de DDHH José María Morelos y Pavón, (Chilapa, Gro., Mexico)
  90. Centro Regional de Derechos Humanos “Bartolomé Carrasco”, A.C. (BARCA) (Oaxaca, Mexico)
  91. Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church Environmental Justice Ministry
  92. Central Australia Frack Free Alliance
  93. Centro de Documentación en Derechos Humanos “Segundo Montes Mozo SJ” (CSMM)
  94. Centro de Estudios para el Desarrollo y la Participación (CEDEP), Peru
  95. Centro Ecuménico de Promoción y Acción Social (CEDEPAS) Norte, Peru
  96. Centro de Estudios Para el Desarrollo Regional (CEDER), Peru
  97. Centro de Estudios y Promoción del Desarrollo (DESCO), Peru
  98. Centro de Estudios Regionales Andinos “Bartolomé de Las Casas” (CBC), Peru
  99. Centro de Investigación y Promoción del Campesinado, (CIPCA), Peru
  100. Centro Peruano de Estudios Sociales, CEPES, Peru
  101. Centro Regional de Derechos Humanos “Bartolomé Carrasco Briseño”
  102. Cervantes Action Group
  103. Ciencia Social Alternativa, A.C. KOOKAY (Mérida, Yuc., Mexico)
  104. Ciudadanía Lagunera por los Derechos Humanos, A.C. (CILADHAC) (Torreón, Coah., Mexico)
  105. Citizens for Clean Water, Vera Scroggins, Director
  106. Citizens Own Renewable Energy Network Australia Inc (CORENA)
  107. Clarence Environment Centre
  108. Clarence Valley Against Coal Seam Gas
  109. Clarence Valley – No CSG
  110. Climate Action Central Coast
  111. Climate Action Newcastle
  112. Climate Action Newtown
  113. Climate Change Australia – Clarence Branch
  114. Climate Disobedience Center
  115. Climate Emergency Institute, Peter Carter
  116. CMAVI (Collectif Moratoire Alternatives Vigilance Intervention)
  117. Climate Change Australia Incorporated
  118. Coal Free Wide Bay Burnett & Beyond Inc
  119. Coal and CSG Free Mirboo North
  120. Coalition Eau Secours! Martine Chatelain, President
  121. Collectif Citoyen Val-de-Travers Non aux forages d’hydrocarbures
  122. COESUS – No Fracking Brazil Coalition
  123. Coloradans Against Fracking as a Steering Committee Member
  124. Coordinación Regional Plataforma Interamericana de Derechos Humanos, Democracia y Desarrollo (PIDHDD)
  125. Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos, Jorge Bracamonte Allaín, Peru
  126. Coffs Catchment Coalition
  127. Colectivo Educación para la Paz y los Derechos Humanos (San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chis.)
  128. Colectivo contra la Tortura y la Impunidad (CCTI) (DF, Mexico)
  129. Colectivo Educación para la Paz y los Derechos Humanos A.C. (CEPAZDH)
  130. Colette Pichon Battle, Gulf Coast Center for Law & Policy, Regional- (FL, LA, TX, MS, AL)
  131. Colorado People’s Alliance (COPA)
  132. Community Environment Network Inc
  133. Community Law Resource Group
  134. Comité Cerezo (Distrito Federal)
  135. Comité Cristiano de Solidaridad Monseñor Romero (DF, Mexico)
  136. Comité de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos “Hasta Encontrarlos” (DF, Mexico)
  137. Comisión de Derechos Humanos y Laborales del Valle de Tehuacán, (Tehuacán, Pue., Mexico)
  138. Comisión de Solidaridad y Defensa de los Derechos Humanos (Chihuahua, Chih., Mexico)
  139. Comisión Independiente de Derechos Humanos de Morelos (Cuernavaca, Mor., Mexico)
  140. Comisión Regional de Derechos Humanos “Mahatma Gandhi” (Tuxtepec, Oax., Mexico)
  141. Comité Defensa Integral de Derechos Humanos Gobixha (CODIGODH) (Oaxaca, Oax., Mexico)
  142. Comité de Defensa de las Libertades Indígenas (Palenque, Chis., Mexico)
  143. Comité de Derechos Humanos Ajusco (Distrito Federal)
  144. Comité de Derechos Humanos “Fr. Pedro Lorenzo de la Nada” (Ocosingo, Chis, Mexico)
  145. Comité de Derechos Humanos “Sierra Norte de Veracruz” (Huayacocotla, Ver., Mexico)
  146. Comité de Derechos Humanos de Colima, (Colima, Col.)
  147. Comité de Derechos Humanos de Comalcalco, (CODEHUCO) (Comalcalco, Tab, Mexico)
  148. Comité de Derechos Humanos de Tabasco, (CODEHUTAB) (Villahermosa, Tab, Mexico)
  149. Comité de Derechos Humanos y Orientación Miguel Hidalgo, (Dolores Hidalgo, Gto.)
  150. Comité Sergio Méndez Arceo Pro Derechos Humanos de Tulancingo, Hgo A.C.
  151. Complete It Cuomo, Albany NY, Christine Macpherson
  152. Concerned Citizens Ohio, Mary Greer
  153. Conservation Council ACT
  154. Conservation Council of Western Australia
  155. Conservation SA
  156. Coonabarabran Residents Against CSG
  157. Cooloola Community Action Group
  158. Coopers Creek Protection Society
  159. Cooperlivre Arayara Foundation
  160. CSG Free Ballina
  161. CSG Free Byron Shire
  162. CSG Free NQ Cairns.
  163. CSG Free NQ Douglas
  164. CSG Free Ingleburn.
  165. CSG Free Maffra & districts.
  166. CSG Free Poowong.
  167. CSG Free Shoalhaven
  168. CSG Rescue NSW
  169. CSG Free Western Sydney
  170. Cumbernauld (HUGE)
  171. Darkes Forest Residents
  172. Defenders of our Land Water and Future – Balmain
  173. Delaware Riverkeeper Network, Tracy Carluccio
  174. Democratic Labor Party – NSW Branch
  175. Don’t Frack Katherine
  176. Don’t Frack the Cox
  177. Dooda (NO) Fracking, Kimberly Howe
  178. Drake group (aka West of the Range Gas Information Group (WORGIG).
  179. Drillham Action Group
  180. Dryden (NY/USA) Resource Awareness Coalition
  181. Durwood Zaelke, President, Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development
  182. Earth Ethics, Inc. Mary Gutierrez, Executive Director
  183. Earth Care, Bianca Sopoci-Belknap, Director
  184. Earthrace Conservation Australia
  185. Earthworks, Jennifer Krill, Executive Director
  186. East End Mine Action Group Inc (EEMAG)
  187. East Kent Against Fracking, Rosemary Rechter, Chairperson
  188. Ecologistas en Acción, Samuel Martín-Sosa, International Coordinator, Spain
  189. El Caracol, A.C (Distrito Federal)
  190. Energy Watch Group
  191. Environment and Human Rights Advisory, Tom Kern
  192. Estancia del Migrante González y Martínez, A.C. (Querétaro, Mexico.)
  193. Equitable Origin
  194. Fair Food Brisbane
  195. Fairmont, Minnesota Peace Group, Judi Poulson, Chair
  196. FANMex – Red Mexicana de Acción por el Agua
  197. Food & Water Watch
  198. Food Connect Foundation
  199. Foster Community Association
  200. Frac Sand Sentinel, Concerned Chippewa Citizens–Chippewa Falls
  201. Frack Free Wales
  202. Frack Free Alliance NT
  203. Frack Free Boulder (Colorado, USA)
  204. Frack Free East Gippsland
  205. Frack Free Gascoyne
  206. Frack Free Geraldton.
  207. Frack Free Grovedale.
  208. Frack Free Kimberley
  209. Frack Free Kimberley Community
  210. Frack Free NT.
  211. Frack Free Tas.
  212. Fracking Action Network, Athens County, Ohio, USA
  213. Franciscans International, Francesca Restifo, International Advocacy Director
  214. Franciscan Response to Fracking, Jackie Schramm, Director
  215. Frente Cívico Sinaloense. Secretaría de Derechos Humanos (Culiacán, Sin., Mexico)
  216. Fresh Water Accountability Project, Lea Harper, Managing Director
  217. Friends of the Earth, La Rioja
  218. Friends of the Earth Ibiza
  219. Friends of the Earth, Mallorca,
  220. Friends of the Earth, Spain
  221. Friends of Felton.
  222. Friends of the Bungawalbyn
  223. Friends of the Pilliga
  224. Friends of the Earth
  225. Friends of Willunga Basin
  226. Fundación para la Justicia y el Estado Democrático de Derecho (DF, Mexico)
  227. Fundacja Strefa Zieleni (Green Zone Foundation), Poland
  228. Fundar, Centro de Análisis e Investigación A.C.
  229. Grassroots Environmental Education, Patricia Wood, Executive Director
  230. Green Environmental Coalition, Vickie Hennessy, President
  231. Galilee Basin Alliance
  232. Gasfield Free Bairnsdale
  233. Gasfield Free Drumborg
  234. Gasfield Free Glenelg.
  235. Gasfield Free Mountain Districts
  236. Gasfield Free Northern Rivers
  237. Gas Free Seneca. Yvonne Taylor, Vice President
  238. Gasfield Free Torquay
  239. Gasfield Free Wollombi Valley
  240. Gecko – Gold Coast and Hinterland Environment Council
  241. Geelong Environment
  242. Gegen Gasbohren, Germany
  243. Get the Frack Out Of Maryborough.
  244. GIRAM
  245. Girls Against Gas
  246. Glasshouse Mountains Advancement Network.
  247. Glenugie Guardians.
  248. Global Network for the Study of Human Rights and the Environment (GNHRE)
  249. Gloucester Environment Group
  250. Gloucester Residents in Partnership (GRIP)
  251. Great Artesian Basin Protection Group Inc.
  252. Green Party group on Mendip District Council, Somerset, England, Shane Collins, Leader
  253. Groundswell Gloucester
  254. Group Against Gas Kyogle (GAG Kyogle)
  255. Guardians of Rocky Creek Dam
  256. Guernsey County Citizens Support on Drilling Issues, Greg Pace, Organizer
  257. Gympie Water, Air & Soil Protection Group (Gympie WASP).
  258. Greater Wollombi Communities Alliance (GWCA).
  259. Hands Off Our Coast
  260. Householders’ Options to Protect the Environment (HOPE) Inc.
  261. Hudson River Sloop Clearwater
  262. Human Rights Consortium, University of London
  263. Hunter Community Environment Centre.
  264. Hunter Valley Protection Alliance.
  265. Idle No More SF Bay, Pennie Opal Plant, USA
  266. Illawarra Residents for Responsible Mining
  267. Ironstone Community Action Group Inc.
  268. Indignación, A. C. Promoción y Defensa de los Derechos Humanos (Merida, Yuc., Mexico)
  269. Iniciativas para la Identidad y la Inclusión A.C. (INICIA) (San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Mexico)
  270. Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development, Durwood Zaelke, President
  271. Instituto Chaikuni, Ecuador
  272. Instituto de Derechos Humanos Ignacio Ellacuria, S.J. Universidad Iberoamericana
  273. Instituto de Estudios Peruanos (IEP), Peru
  274. Instituto Guerrerense de Derechos Humanos, (Chilpancingo, Gro., Mexico);
  275. Instituto Mexicano de Derechos Humanos y Democracia (DF, Mexico);
  276. Instituto Mexicano para el Desarrollo Comunitario, (IMDEC) (Guadalajara, Jal., Mexico)
  277. Instituto Tecnológico y Estudios Superiores de Occidente, Prgma Institucional de Derechos Humanos y Paz (Guadalajara, Mexico)
  278. InterAmerican Clean Energy Institute, Heather Rosmarin, Executive Director
  279. Jews Against Hydrofracking, Dr. Mirele B. Goldsmith,
  280. Just Say No 2 CSG Alliance
  281. Jurien Action Group
  282. Kairos: The Center for Religions, Rights and Social Justice
  283. Keep the Scenic Rim Scenic
  284. Keerrong Gas Squad
  285. Kingaroy Concerned Citizens Group
  286. Knitting Nannas Against Gas
  287. Knitting Nanas Balcombe
  288. Kyogle Group Against Gas
  289. La Alianza Mexicana contra el Fracking
  290. Lake Macquarie Frog and Reptile Observation Group
  291. Lane Cove Land Water Future Group
  292. Leave it in the Ground Initiative (LINGO), Kjell Kühne, Founder
  293. Leeuwin Environment
  294. Life Out Of Plastic – L.O.O.P., Irene Hofmeijer, Director
  295. Limestone Coast Protection Alliance
  296. Lock Gippsland Gates to CSG
  297. Lock the Gate – Sydney, Australia
  298. Lock the Lake
  299. Lock the Mid North Coast
  300. Lock the Nambucca Valley
  301. Lock The Tweed
  302. Lovedale Chamber of Commerce
  303. Lower Belford Residents Alliance
  304. Lue Action Group
  305. Mackay Community Garden Inc.
  306. Mackay Conservation Group
  307. Maitland Greens
  308. Manly Land Water Future Group
  309. Manning Clean Water Action Group
  310. Manning Valley Produce Co-operative
  311. Marcellus Outreach Butler, Diane Sipe
  312. Maules Creek Community Council Inc.
  313. Medical Mission Sisters
  314. Merriwa Healthy Environment Group
  315. Middle Clarence Group Against Gas
  316. Mid Western Community Action Network
  317. Milkwood Permaculture
  318. Mirboo North Against CSG
  319. Moorabool Environment Group
  320. Mullaley Gas & Pipeline Accord Inc.
  321. Mujeres Indígenas por la Conservación, Investigación y Aprovechamiento de los Recursos Naturales (Oaxaca, Mexico)
  322. My Environment Inc.
  323. Nacional Democrático del SNTE, Antonio Ávila Rosas, Member of Executive Committee
  324. Namoi Community Hub
  325. National Toxics Network Inc., Dr Mariann Lloyd-Smith
  326. Nature Conservation Council of New South Wales
  327. NEOGAP Northeast Ohio Gas Accountability Project, Kari Matsko, Founder
  328. Nerang Community Association Inc.
  329. New Brunswick Anti-Shale Gas Alliance, Jim Emberger
  330. New Community Journal Victoria
  331. Nimbin Environment Centre
  332. No CSG Gilgandra
  333. No CSG Walgett.
  334. No Fracking WAy
  335. North East Forest Alliance.
  336. Northern Beaches (Sydney) Greens.
  337. Northern Illawarra Sustainability Alliance (NISA)
  338. Northern Rivers Arabian Horse Association Inc.
  339. Northern Rivers Greens
  340. Northern Rivers Guardians (NRG).
  341. North Queensland Conservation Council
  342. Ocean Outfall Group, Joey Racano, Director
  343. Oakey Coal Action Alliance.
  344. Oatley Flora & Fauna Conservation Society Inc.
  345. Observatorio Ciudadano, Chile
  346. Observatorio de Expansión Minero Energética y Re-existencias
  347. Observatorio Petrolero Sur | OPSur Centro del CEPPAS
  348. Ocean Conservation Research, Michael Stocker, Director
  349. Oficina de Defensoría de los Derechos de la Infancia (ODI) (DF, Mexico)
  350. Our Land, Our Water, Our Future, Central Coast
  351. Otford Environment.
  352. Otford Protection Society
  353. Pennsylvania Alliance for Clean Water and Air, Jenny Lisak Co- director
  354. People for the Plains
  355. Pine Rivers Climate Action Network
  356. Plataforma Ciudadana Zaragoza sin Fractura
  357. Pottsville Community Association
  358. Programa Universitario de Derechos Humanos. UIA –León
  359. Promoción de los Derechos Económicos, Sociales y Culturales (PRODESCAC)
  360. Proyecto de Derechos Económicos, Sociales y Culturales (ProDESC)
  361. Proyecto sobre Organización, Desarrollo, Educación e Investigación (PODER)
  362. Protect Arnhem Land
  363. Protect Jerrys Plains
  364. Protect Keppel Bay.
  365. Protect the Bush Alliance. Get in touch
  366. Putty Community Association Inc.
  367. Queensland Rural and Regional Greens
  368. Rainforest Action Network
  369. Rainforest Relief, Tim Keating, Executive Director
  370. Red Nacional de Organismos Civiles de Derechos Humanos
  371. Regroupement Vigilance Hydrocarbures Québec
  372. Regroupement citoyen contre les bitumineux et pour le développement durable
  373. Respuesta Alternativa, A. C. Servicio de Derechos Humanos y Desarrollo Comunitario
  374. Richmond Valley Group Against Gas
  375. Roseacre Awareness Group
  376. Rock Valley Gas Rangers
  377. Running Stream Water Users Association Inc.
  378. Ryde Hunter’s Hill Flora & Fauna Preservation Society
  379. Safe Energy Rights Group, Inc. (SEnRG)
  380. Director of Human Rights Clinic, University of Ottawa, Salvador Herencia Carrasco
  381. Save Bunnan Inc.
  382. Save our Macleay River
  383. Save Our Southwest (SOS)
  384. Save our Water Catchment Areas
  385. Save the Reef
  386. Save the Drip
  387. SER (Servicios Educativos Rurales), Peru
  388. Servicio, Paz y Justicia de Tabasco, A.C.(SERPATAB) (Villahermosa, Tab., Mexico)
  389. Servicios de Inclusión Integral, A.C. (SEIINAC) (Pachuca, Hgo., Mexico)
  390. Sisters of Mercy of the Americas
  391. Sisters of Mercy: Mercy International Association: Global Action
  392. Six Degrees
  393. Slow Food Sydney
  394. Social and Pastoral Team of the Dioceses of the Alto Valle of Rio Negro, Argentina
  395. Socialist Alliance New England
  396. SOS Liverpool Plains
  397. SOS Territoire (comité du GRIP UQAM)
  398. Southern Downs Protection Group
  399. Southern Highlands Coal Action Group
  400. Sth Gippy Landcare
  401. Stichting Schaliegasvrij, Ko van Huissteden, Chair, Nederland
  402. Stop CSG Blue Mountains
  403. Stop CSG Brisbane
  404. Stop CSG Illawarra.
  405. Stop CSG in Fullerton Cove and Surrounds
  406. Stop CSG Macarthur.
  407. Stop CSG Sutherland
  408. Stop CSG Sydney
  409. Stop CSG Sydney Water Catchment.
  410. Stop CSG Tara
  411. Stop oléoduc Île d’Orléans
  412. Stop the Frack Attack Advisory Council
  413. Stowarzyszenie Niesiołowice Węsiory – Kamienne Kręgi, Więcek Hieronim
  414. Sustainable Energy Group in Woodstock, New Brunswick, Canada
  415. Sustainable Living Association
  416. Sutherland Shire Environment Centre
  417. Sydney Food Fairness Alliance
  418. Tamworth Regional Landcare Association
  419. Tasmanian Public and Environmental Health Network
  420. Tequio Jurídico (Oaxaca, Oax., Mexico)
  421. The Change Agency
  422. The Channon Gas Defence Network.
  423. The Colong Foundation for Wilderness
  424. The Greater Mary Association
  425. The Orange County Interfaith Coalition for the Environment
  426. Thomas Merton Center, Wanda Guthrie, Executive Director
  427. Toowoomba Coal Mine Action Group
  428. Transition Sunshine Coast
  429. Tweed Climate Action Now.
  430. Tweed Richmond Organic Producers’ Organisation (Tropo).
  431. United Myall Residents Against Gas Extraction
  432. United Native Americans, Quanah Parker Brightman, Executive Director
  433. Upper Mooki Landcare Inc.
  434. UUSC, Dr. Patricia Jones
  435. Valley Watch Inc
  436. Wappentake Valley Action Group
  437. We Shale Be Free
  438. Western Downs Alliance
  439. Who?Ra! Permaculture Farm, Kim Alexander
  440. Wide Bay Burnett Environment Council
  441. WildEarth Guardians, Tim Ream
  442. Women Against Coal Seam Gas
  443. Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) US Section
  444. Wooyung Action Group
  445. World Wildlife Fund International
  446. World Wildlife Fund Uganda, Eric Coull, Conservation Manager
  447. Yarra Climate Action Now (YCAN)
  448. Youth Food Movement
  449. YP Land Owners
  450. Yuraygir Coast and Range Alliance
  451. Zelenite Political Party (The Bulgarian Greens), Bulgaria

 

CC:

Inter-American Human Rights Commission

UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and environment

UN Special Rapporteur on indigenous peoples

UN Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation

UN Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health

 

Further Reading on Human Rights and Fracking

The Center for Human Rights and Environment (CHRE). Human Rights and the Business of Fracking: Applying the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights to Hydraulic Fracturing. CHRE. 2015
https://center-hre.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Fracking-and-UNGPs-Draft-2-September-29-2015.pdf
Annex: https://center-hre.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Fracking-and-UNGPs-Draft-2-September-29-2015.2.pdf

EHRA. Environment and Human Rights Advisory.
A Human Rights Assessment of Hydraulic Fracturing for Natural Gas. 2011.

US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Assessment of the Potential Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing for Oil and Gas on Drinking Water Resources. June 2015

https://center-hre.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/HF_ERD_JUN2015.pdf

  1. Grear, E. Grant, T. Kerns, K. Morrow and D. Short. A Human Rights Assessment of Hydraulic Fracturing and other Unconventional Gas Development in the United Kingdom. October 2014

http://www.sas.ac.uk/sites/default/files/files/UK%20HRIA%20w%20appdx-hi%20res.pdf

  1. McKenzie, R. Witter, L. Newman, J. Adgate. Human health risk assessment of air emissions from development of unconventional natural gas resources. In Science of the Total Environment. 2012.
  1. Short et.al. Extreme energy, “fracking” and human rights: a new field for human rights impact assessments? The Journal of Human Rights. 2015

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13642987.2015.1019219

  1. Srebotnjak and M. Rotkin. Fracking Fumes: Air Pollution from Hydraulic Fracturing Threatens Public Health and Communities. Natural Resources Defense Council. 2014

http://www.nrdc.org/health/files/fracking-air-pollution-IB.pdf

UNANIMA. Hydraulic fracturing for natural gas: A new threat to human rights. 2011. http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G11/160/72/PDF/G1116072.pdf?OpenElement

[1] Zotero. Citation Database: https://www.zotero.org/groups/pse_study_citation_database/items

[2] TEDX. Chemicals in Oil and Gas Operations, Health: http://endocrinedisruption.org/chemicals-in-natural-gas-operations/health

[3] TEDX. Chemicals in Oil and Gas Operations, Health: http://endocrinedisruption.org/chemicals-in-natural-gas-operations/health

[4] Schlumberger. “From Mud to Cement” 2003: www.slb.com/~/media/Files/resources/oilfield_review/ors03/aut03/p62_76.ashx; Archer – The Well Company. “Better Well Integrity.” 2011: www.naturalgaswatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/well_integrity_failure_presentation.pdf; Petroleum Safety Authority Norway. “New report: Well integrity challenges on the Norwegian Shelf.” June, 2006: www.ptil.no/news/new-report-well-integrity-challenges-on-the-norwegian-shelf-article2762-79.html; Onepetro.org: www.spe.org/ejournals/jsp/journalapp.jsp?pageType=Preview&jid=EDC&mid=SPE-106817-PA; Fox, Josh. The Sky is Pink. June 20, 2012: www.pinkskyny.com