On the sidelines of 54th Session of the Human Rights Council (HRC54), this year’s Toxic Free Talks will take place from 20 to 22 September - three days of conferences and discussions, highlighting the work of the Special Rapporteur and of organizations in the struggle for the right to live in a toxic-free environment. This side event to HRC54 will discuss the need to develop a human rights-based analysis of IMO processes and ensure adequate incorporation of the human rights perspective into its stream of work.
The work of IMO has always been relevant to human rights, considering the close connection between shipping and the environment and human beings. Various IMO treaties implicitly protect and promote human rights through their policies on the environment and the human element, and other IMO treaties explicitly do so. Nevertheless, IMO and the shipping industry must still face a number of human rights and environmental challenges, such as oil and toxic spills harming coastal communities; air emissions from vessels adversely affecting port cities and contributing to climate change; seafarers being exposed to hazardous working conditions; and transport of hazardous cargo posing risks to crew and the environment. Shipping thus impacts the enjoyment of a range of human rights. But IMO remains largely unknown to the human rights community and there is little indication that the shipping industry considers human rights at the level of the existing relevance to its work. Therefore, it’s urgent to develop a human rights-based analysis of IMO processes and ensure adequate incorporation of the human rights perspective into its stream of work.
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