On Thursday, 17 March, at the Human Right Council, the Sisters of Mercy and the NGO Mining Working Group joined the Western Downs and Wider Unconventional Gas Group of Chinchilla, Queensland, Australia to sound alarm bells at the international level regarding the urgent issue of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. On this occasion, the country of Australia appeared before the human rights body in Geneva to consider and adopt the outcome of its Universal Periodic Review (UPR).

The coalition of NGOs delivered a joint statement on this important occasion marking Australia’s completion of its latest UPR. The statement welcomed the adoption of UPR recommendations for Australia and connected them to the global issue of fracking that has had devastating impacts for many Australians at the local level, particularly in Queensland. As stated in the intervention, 'These impacts include damage to potable water resulting from governmental conduct that contravenes its human rights obligations: the government has refused to offer protection from the hazards of unconventional gas mining; denied what would be the people’s proper complaint process and participation; and failed to monitor the safety of food grown in the area and the atmospheric and environmental damage rendering homes unsafe'.

The statement went on to make links between the UPR recommendations on implementing human rights and implications for coal seam gas mining. In particular, it called for the Australian government to adopt an enforceable Human Rights Act, enact effective legislation at the federal level to require corporate due diligence, and provide avenues for justice when harm takes place.

The statement concluded with an appeal to Australia to heed the testimony from the Chinchilla community at the recent Senate Inquiry on fracking. It urged the government to show global leadership on the issue by taking effective domestic action addressing the human rights impacts of coal seam gas mining on its citizens, especially as it seeks a seat on the Human Rights Council in 2018.

Learn more about the environmental and human rights impacts of fracking. Download: A Guide to Rights-Based Advocacy: International Human Rights Law and Fracking.

Messages to: Áine O’Connor rsm - MGA Coordinator at the UN

 

Images:
Photo # 485261.UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré. Used with permission
Cover of Rights Guide