[2] CIEL's team aims to use "the power of law to protect the environment, promote human rights, and ensure a just and sustainable society.
CIEL seeks a world where the law reflects the interconnection between humans and the environment, respects the limits of the planet, protects the dignity and equality of each person, and encourages all of earth’s inhabitants to live in balance with each other.
[6][7][8] CIEL's work can be divided into four programs: Climate and Energy; Environmental Health; Fossil Economy, and People, Land & Resources.
[1] Actions to protect environment and human rights include "collaborating to improve safeguard policies, increasing access to information through the Early Warning System, and supporting community-driven advocacy and complaints at the accountability mechanisms of multilateral banks.
[18][19] In 2022, Pushing Back, a report about the petrochemical industry's development and what that means for communities, was published.