Our Services

Common Rights helps develop new ideas to address environmental and social challenges, and works to bring potential solutions to fruition. We use our unique, multi-dimensional approach to craft innovative and pragmatic ideas for our clients and partners.

We neither engage in lobbying nor provide support to efforts that we do not believe will have a positive impact on present and future generations.

Our services focus on providing advice with a view towards developing solutions.

  • We provide clients with transformational strategies. Our strategies are designed to accelerate a transition to safer and more sustainable alternatives, taking into account:

    • Legal options

    • Regulatory pathways

    • Market-based mechanisms

    We have considerable experience in developing strategies to reduce the use and release of chemicals of concern for human health and ecosystems. Often, these strategies are complemented by one or more of the service types below.

  • We provide clients with robust legal and policy analyses on international treaties and other instruments, including:

    • International Environmental Laws, such as:

      • Chemicals and Wastes - Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm (BRS) Conventions; Minamata Convention; Montreal Protocol; and Global Framework on Chemicals (GFC).

      • Nature - including the Convention on Biological Diversity.

      • Climate change, such as the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement.

    • Human rights, including

      • UN treaties and declarations

      • Regional instruments

      • Corporate responsibilities

    • International labor laws and standards, including

      • ILO Standards

      • Child labor

      • Modern Slavery

    Common Rights helps clients navigate international negotiations at global and regional levels. We provide clients with regular analyses and updates regarding developments on global treaties, as well as the development of various national and regional sustainability standards in Europe (e.g. CSDDD, CSRD, and EUDR), the Americas, and Asia-Pacific.

  • Common Rights has specialized expertise to help organizations strengthen their due diligence for chemicals, pollution, waste, and other environmental and human health issues.

    We review and provide input to evaluations prepared for key standards, including CSDDD, GRI, SASB, TCFD, and CDP.

    We also advise on sustainability reports and marketing efforts to ensure accurate claims and avoid greenwashing.

  • We provide clients with custom advice and strategies on using national and international human rights mechanisms to advance objectives. These include:

    • The UN Human Rights Council and General Assembly

    • UN Special Procedures, including the work of Special Rapporteurs and Working Groups

    • UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies

    • Regional human rights courts and systems

    • National Contact Points for Responsible Business

    • National Human Rights Institutions

    The mandates of these mechanisms can contribute in various ways to efforts to advance sustainable practices.

  • Common Rights has extensive experience evaluating national and regional governance systems. We have evaluated regimes for various considerations, including:

    • Environmental protection;

    • Occupational safety and health;

    • Access to information;

    • Participation, protection and early-warning systems; and

    • Access to redress and remedies.

    We have evaluated systems and approaches of various countries in North and South America, Africa, Asia, and Europe.

    Stakeholders have used these evaluations to identify and classify various risks, developing strategies for elimination and mitigation as appropriate.

  • We provide specialized research and analysis to help our clients meet their objectives. Our reports can help:

    • Achieve legislative change

    • Identify viable solutions

    • Assess risks, gaps and vulnerabilities

    With a multi-dimensional and multi-disciplinary approach, we provide critical insights from legal, technical, political, and socio-economic perspectives.

Our Projects & Impact

Focus Areas

  • Environmental challenges

    Common Rights believes everyone has the right to a healthy environment. We specializes in efforts to reduce the adverse impacts of enviromental harms on the most vulnerable.

    Pollution, chemicals, and waste are what earned Common Rights its reputation as trailblazer. However, no environmental issue is isolated from another, and no environmental issue is isolated from a myriad of social concerns.

    Today, we work on a range of environmental topics beyond pollution, chemicals, and waste, from climate change to nature conservation and biodiversity protection. For example, our work on nitrogen pollution cuts across climate, nature, and toxic pollution concerns.

  • Human Rights

    Led by former UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and toxics, Baskut Tuncak, Common Rights excels at applying a human rights lens to uncover the implications of various activities for human rights.

    Common Rights has examined several hundred cases of alleged human rights impacts by governments, businesses, and other non-State actors. We have particular expertise in human rights due diligence for environmental harms due to business activities.

    We help partners engage with UN treaty bodies, UN Special Procedures (e.g. Special Rapporteurs and Working Groups), and other human rights mechanisms to address and remedy environmental and social harms.

  • Worker health and safety

    Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) is one of the greatest sustainability challenges of today.

    Common Rights has deep expertise in helping all stakeholders - governments, businesses, and labor unions - ensure workers enjoy a safe and healthy working environment.

    ‍Among other projects, our staff has developed UN guidance on the protection of workers from hazardous substances, which the UN Human Rights Council has encouraged businesses and governments to apply. In addition, we have investigated and developed solutions to better protect the most vulnerable workers in complex supply chains, including children, women and migrant workers.

  • Emerging technologies

    With increasing investment in environmentally-friendly alternatives, our technical experts uncover both the risks and opportunities with emerging technologies for the environment.

    Common Rights’ technical experts are able to analyze innovative ideas for potential hazards and risks from both environmental and social perspectives.

    With robust and realistic alternative assessments, we provide stakeholders with options to avoid financial, legal, reputational risks, as well as unintended harms to people and the planet.

Learn More

Contact Us

Ready to work together? We'd love to hear about your project.

Please complete the form below, and our team will get back to you promptly.