09 November 2026
A Renewed Mandate to Do Better
On 4 November 2026, ten days after Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won a fourth presidential term, the Brazilian COP30 Presidency published two roadmaps: one on transitioning away from fossil fuels and one on halting and reversing deforestation by 2030. Brazil had promised them at the close of COP30 in Belém, after efforts to include a reference to a fossil fuel roadmap in the negotiated outcome failed. Both documents are voluntary and sit outside the formal UN process. Yet they also set a benchmark against which Brazil’s own record can be read. Continue reading >>
0 
10 February 2026
(Il)legalising the Destruction of the Amazon
The Amazon rainforest is vital for the ecology and agriculture of the South American continent as well as for the world’s climate. At the same time, deforestation in the Amazon is so severe that some scientists see the world’s largest rainforest as close to irreversible “tipping points”. This article will look at cattle supply chains from the Amazon to global markets and will show how law plays an ambiguous role with respect to the Amazon. Continue reading >>
0
20 October 2025
The Case for a Global Ban on Industrial Animal Agriculture by 2050
We propose a global ban on industrial animal agriculture by 2050 because this food system causes massive, unnecessary, and transboundary harm to humans, animals, and the environment. Addressing these harms requires international coordination, inspired by successful efforts to regulate or ban other harmful products or processes, ranging from mercury and tobacco to child labor and torture of enemy combatants. This contribution summarizes the key legal rationale, precedents, and instruments for our proposed ban. Continue reading >>
0
03 August 2023
Out of the Woods?
Large-scale deforestation not only accelerates climate change and biodiversity loss, it is also a serious threat to human rights. While the EU has pursued strategies to combat illegal logging since the early 2000s, it has mostly turned a blind eye to the adverse human rights effects of deforestation. The new EU Regulation on Deforestation (EUDR) acknowledges that human rights and the protection of forests are inextricably linked, but is this really a “major step for ‘deforestation-free’ trade”? This post provides a brief introduction to the EUDR, its most salient features, and critically, its weak points. Continue reading >>
0