Resolutions, Declarations, and Other Documents

1. State Interventions in Ukraine v. Russia Case (International Court of Justice – Various Dates, 2022)

<https://www.icj-cij.org/en/case/182/intervention>

Since Latvia filed in July 2022, 21 additional states have filed declarations of intervention in the case concerning Allegations of Genocide under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Ukraine v. Russian Federation). At the time of writing, declarations have been filed by Lithuania, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States, Sweden, Romania, France, Poland, Italy, Denmark, Ireland, Finland, Estonia, Spain, Australia, Portugal, Austria, Luxembourg, Greece, and Croatia.

2. Russian Federation Formally Ceases to be Party to the European Convention on Human Rights (September 16, 2022)

<https://echr.coe.int/Documents/Resolution_ECHR_cessation_membership_Russia_CoE_ENG.pdf>

As of September 16, 2022, the Russian Federation was no longer a High Contracting Party to the European Convention on Human Rights. As explained in the European Court of Human Rights resolution passed on March 22 of this year, though Russia is no longer a party to the Court, “[t]he Court remains competent to deal with applications directed against the Russian Federation in relation to acts or omissions capable of constituting a violation of the Convention provided that they occurred until 16 September 2022.” This follows the cessation of Russia's membership in the Council of Europe on March 16, 2022.

3. Briefing Paper on Climate Finance in West Africa/Sahel (Oxfam – September 27, 2022)

<https://policy-practice.oxfam.org/resources/climate-finance-in-west-africa-assessing-the-state-of-climate-finance-in-one-of-621420/>

On September 27, 2022, Oxfam International published a briefing paper on Climate Finance in West Africa/Sahel. The briefing assessed the implementation of climate finance instruments in eight countries in the most debt riddled region in the world. The briefing found that, (1) the finance is being over-reported with significant favor being shown to debt instruments that are unsustainable for the region; (2) Current climate finance flowing to the region is far from meeting each nation's climate finance needs; (3) adaptation finance is insufficient; (4) reported climate finance is not being implemented with a focus on gender; and (5) difficulty in tracking finance leads to analysis that less than 1% of all finance is being directly channeled to local actors and institutions. Oxfam reviewed climate finance received in the region from 2013-2019. Nearly $11.7bn has been sent to the region during that time. The total amount per person per year for the region falls significantly below each of the countries Nationally Determined Contribution's assessments of needs. The briefing discusses over-reporting of climate finance that is specifically targeting climate action in the region. The finance instruments being received by the region are debt instruments. A majority of the finance is comprised of non-concessional loans from multilateral development banks. Specifically, the briefing finds that these debt instruments are not being used to meet climate adaptation goals in the region. Debt instruments received by the region increased by 610% between 2013-2019 in.comparison to 79% for grants. A majority of the finance coming from MDB's, or other multilaterals are not being earmarked for gender objectives which is not in accordance with the UNFCCC commitment to climate finance for structural inequalities. Little reporting has been done on this topic recently. However, reports have noted that Africa's food crisis has been made worse by climate change across the continent. Chad is currently the most climate vulnerable country in the west African region. The IMF released a report on September 15, 2022, noting that food insecurity would continue to increase on the continent. The IMF and the World Bank have their annual meetings in Washington, D.C. this week. The groups are set to have discussions on climate change and debt restructuring for several African countries.

4. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Russia Created (UN Human Rights Council – October 7, 2022)

<https://media.un.org/en/asset/k1f/k1fv69dkpw>

On Friday, October 7, the Human Rights Council voted to create the new special rapporteur on human rights in Russia. As reported by JURIST, the rapporteur will have a mandate for one year and has been tasked with collecting and assessing information so that it can make relevant recommendations and present its findings to the Council at its 54th session and to the General Assembly at its 78th session.