News · 6 September 2026
Water, forever chemicals and the right to a healthy environment: what the UN is deciding this month
Foundation for Gaia's guide to the environmental issues at the 63rd session of the UN Human Rights Council, and why data centres belong in the conversation.
6 September 2026
The UN Human Rights Council is the main United Nations body responsible for human rights. It brings together 47 governments, elected by the rest of the UN's members, and meets three times a year in Geneva. Its 63rd session opens tomorrow and runs from 7 September to 7 October 2026.
During a session, governments hear from independent experts, debate the state of human rights around the world, and agree texts called resolutions. Resolutions are not laws, but they set expectations for how governments should behave, and they create and renew the posts of the experts who hold governments to account. Many of those experts are known as Special Rapporteurs: unpaid, independent specialists appointed by the Council to examine a particular issue, such as water or toxic chemicals. They write reports, visit countries and raise concerns directly with governments and companies.
The main environmental issues on the agenda
Toxic chemicals: a new expert takes the floor
The Council's September session usually focuses on toxic substances and waste. This year, the new Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights, Bethanie Carney Almroth, will set out her priorities to the Council for the first time. She will also present a report written by her predecessor on "forever chemicals" and human rights. Forever chemicals, known as PFAS, are a family of thousands of manufactured chemicals used in everything from non stick pans to waterproof clothing. They barely break down in the environment, build up in our bodies, and have been linked to cancer and other illnesses.
Some data centre cooling systems use these same chemicals, and environmental groups in the United States are urging regulators not to approve new PFAS cooling fluids. Governments will negotiate a resolution to renew the Special Rapporteur's post for another three years.
Foundation for Gaia calls on governments to renew the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights, and invites the Special Rapporteur to examine the chemicals and waste linked to data centres.
The right to water
Everyone has a right to safe drinking water and to sanitation, meaning toilets and the safe disposal of waste. The Special Rapporteur on these rights, Pedro Arrojo Agudo, will present a report on how to make the right to sanitation a reality for all. His term is ending, and the Council will appoint his successor during this session. Governments will also negotiate a resolution on the rights to water and sanitation, led by Spain and Germany.
Many data centres use large amounts of water to keep their computers cool, and almost half are built in places where water is already scarce.
Foundation for Gaia calls on governments to recognise, in the resolution on water and sanitation, the growing pressure that data centres and other digital infrastructure place on water in water stressed areas.
Indigenous Peoples
The Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, Albert K. Barume, will present a report on the health and rights of Indigenous women and girls. It names environmental contamination as one of the main causes of harm. The Council will hold its yearly discussion on Indigenous Peoples' rights on 23 September, and Guatemala and Mexico are leading a resolution on the issue.
As we reported recently, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has just called on Finland, Honduras and India to obtain the free, prior and informed consent of Indigenous Peoples before energy, agribusiness and conservation projects go ahead on their lands.
Foundation for Gaia calls on governments to reaffirm, in the resolution on Indigenous Peoples, the right to free, prior and informed consent for energy and infrastructure projects, including those built to power data centres.
Artificial intelligence
For the first time, Bangladesh, Egypt and Nepal are leading a resolution on the implications of artificial intelligence for human rights. A UN expert group on the right to development will also present a study on artificial intelligence, culture and development. So far, the UN's work on artificial intelligence and human rights has focused on privacy, discrimination and free expression. The physical side of AI has had far less attention: the electricity used by data centres worldwide rose by 17 per cent in 2025 alone, and the hardware behind AI could add up to 2.5 million tonnes of electronic waste a year by 2030.1
Foundation for Gaia calls on governments to make sure the resolution on artificial intelligence recognises the environmental impacts of AI infrastructure, including data centres, as human rights impacts.
Five years of the right to a healthy environment
On 8 October 2021, the Council recognised for the first time that everyone has a human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. The fifth anniversary falls just after this session ends, and a stocktaking event is planned in Geneva on 24 September.
Foundation for Gaia calls on governments to apply the right to a healthy environment across all of this session's resolutions, and to extend it to new industries such as data centres.
A guide to the session for the environment
Resolutions to watch. The resolutions most relevant to the environment, and the governments leading them, are:
- Renewal of the Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights (Kenya, for the African Group).
- The human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation (Spain and Germany).
- Human rights and Indigenous Peoples (Guatemala and Mexico).
- Implications of artificial intelligence for human rights (Bangladesh, Egypt and Nepal).
- The human rights implications of the nuclear legacy in the Marshall Islands (Pacific island states).
Resolutions are usually adopted in the final days of the session, on 6 and 7 October.
A new water expert. The Council will appoint a new Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation at this session.
How to follow. All public meetings are broadcast live and archived on UN Web TV. The official session page is on the UN human rights office website.
Sources
- United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health, 'Environmental Cost of AI's Energy Use: Carbon, Water and Land Footprints', 2026.