A/HRC/27/54 (f) Human rights abuses and violations committed against human rights defenders owing to their activities relating to the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes. 6. Furthermore, the Council requested the Special Rapporteur to submit, at its twentyfourth session, a progress report, with specific recommendations and proposals on the steps to be taken immediately to address the adverse effects on human rights of hazardous substances and wastes. 7. Additionally, the Council urged the Special Rapporteur to develop, in consultation with relevant stakeholders and with the support of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, a guide to best practices regarding the human rights obligations related to the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes, and to submit the guide together with his report to the Human Rights Council at its twenty-seventh session. 8. The Special Rapporteur is also tasked with undertaking country missions consistent with his mandate, investigating allegations of human rights abuses, and providing governments with the opportunity to respond. 9. The present mandate reflects current issues in both environmental and human rights laws. As described in the previous mandate holder’s report to the Council, modern laws and policies have increasingly embraced a life-cycle approach to chemicals management, helping to reduce the human rights implications of hazardous substance and wastes. 10. Projections for the coming years show a continued growth of chemical production and use worldwide, including rapid acceleration in countries that may have less robust legal frameworks for chemicals management.1 This trend has implications for the environmentally sound management of all types of waste. In addition, it underscores the importance of the mandate, in view of the potential implications of the expansion in chemical production and use both for the promotion and for the erosion of human rights. 11. For example, in its resolution 21/17, the Council requested the Special Rapporteur to provide information regarding the scope of national legislation relating to the human rights implications of the management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes, to examine the transfer of polluting activities from one country to another, and to develop the guide to best practices mentioned above. Moreover, the inclusion of transnational corporations within the Special Rapporteur’s mandate reflects the increasing role of such businesses in the sound management of substances and waste throughout their complete life cycle. 12. Given the global dimensions of hazardous substances and wastes, the Council encouraged the Special Rapporteur to carry out his mandate in close cooperation with the United Nations Environment Programme, relevant specialized agencies such as the World Health Organization and the International Labour Organization, and the secretariats of relevant international environmental conventions, with a view to mainstreaming human rights into their work and avoiding duplication. 13. The Special Rapporteur was requested to identify, in cooperation with these organizations and other relevant experts and stakeholders, gaps and ambiguities in international laws relating to hazardous substances and wastes that gave rise to adverse effects on human rights, and to provide specific recommendations to immediately address those gaps. 1 United Nations Environment Programme, Global Chemicals Outlook: Towards Sound Management of Chemicals (2012). 3