In February, the new US administration rejoined the Paris Agreement and sought to reverse hundreds of laws and policies that had been passed during the previous administration to deregulate the environmental and energy sectors. Nevertheless, elsewhere progress on tackling climate change was disappointing. By encouraging deforestation and extraction of natural resources in the Amazon, Brazil’s President Bolsonaro exacerbated the impact of the climate crisis on Indigenous peoples’ lands and territories, leaving a legacy of environmental destruction. According to the NGO Imazon, the Brazilian Amazon had the highest deforestation rate for the month of August in 10 years. Bolivia passed regulations that incentivized logging and the burning of forests. Canada continued to subsidize the fossil fuel industry. Despite re-engaging with the world on climate change, the new US administration continued to approve oil drilling projects on federal land. th And Mexico, the world’s 11 largest greenhouse gas emitter, failed to present any new emission reduction targets at the UN conference on climate change. RECOMMENDATIONS Governments have a duty to guarantee the right to health without discrimination and should pay particular attention to marginalized groups and others at greater risk from Covid-19. They must guarantee access to economic, social and cultural rights, with special efforts to address the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on those facing multiple forms of discrimination and marginalization, including the violations resulting from the historic marginalization of and discrimination against Indigenous peoples. They must also ensure access to sexual and reproductive rights, including access to safe abortion services. Governments must respect and facilitate the exercise of the rights to freedom of expression and assembly, including ensuring that journalists are able to carry out their legitimate work free of harassment and violence. They must recognize the legitimate work of human rights defenders and create an environment conducive to enabling them to carry out their work in safety and stop responding to social protests or criticism with repression and by resorting to arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance to silence opponents. Governments must ensure that law enforcement protocols and practices are consistent with international standards and that any breaches of such standards are properly investigated and those suspected of criminal responsibility are brought to justice in fair trials before ordinary civilian courts. They must refrain from undermining the independence of the judiciary so that the right to access to justice, truth and reparation can be a meaningful reality for those under its jurisdiction. They must also address the impunity that surrounds violence based on gender or sexual orientation and identity. They must take urgent steps to address violence against women and girls and its root causes and to protect LGBTI people from all forms of violence and eliminate the discrimination that underpins the range of human rights violations they experience. Governments must fulfil their obligation to protect people seeking international protection, respect and safeguard their rights and enable them to remain in their territory, in decent conditions, until a durable solution is found. Amnesty International Report 2021/22 34