ECO has enjoyed hearing Parties’ visions for the new agreement. Especially those that highlighted the need for an agreement that supports human rights, including the rights of indigenous peoples. ECO loved hearing from Parties who said that a Paris agreement will only be successful if it’s rooted in gender equality and intergenerational equity, delivering food security, ecosystem integrity and a just transition with decent jobs…But ECO is disappointed that other countries do not want to be champions for human rights, and have expressed the opinion that human rights must remain non-operative….ECO doesn’t want to believe that the EU is not strongly committed to the principles of human rights. But so far they have shied away from expressing unequivocal support for operative references…As a key player in this discussion, surely the EU will not want to go down as a fence sitter when the fate of such crucial principles is being decided…