HLHR.org
Saturday, March 25, 2023
  • HOME
  • WHO WE ARE
  • TAKE ACTION
  • NEWS
  • RESEARCH
  • IMPACT
  • RESOURCES
No Result
View All Result
  • HOME
  • WHO WE ARE
  • TAKE ACTION
  • NEWS
  • RESEARCH
  • IMPACT
  • RESOURCES
No Result
View All Result
hlhrorg
No Result
View All Result
Home IMPACT

Access to clean and healthy environment a universal human right: UN

The UN General Assembly adopted a historic resolution on Thursday with 161 votes, declaring access to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, a universal human right

July 31, 2022
0
Access to clean and healthy environment a universal human right: UN

Human Lives Human Rights: The UN General Assembly adopted a historic resolution on Thursday, declaring access to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, a universal human right, with 161 votes in favor, and eight abstentions.

The resolution calls upon States, international organizations, and business enterprises to scale up efforts to ensure a healthy environment for all.

READ ALSO

Authorities in Senegal intensify repression ahead of 2024 election

Saudi: Alarming crackdown on freedom of expression on cyberspace

Welcoming the step, the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres said the Member States can come together in the collective fight against the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.

“The resolution will help reduce environmental injustices, close protection gaps and empower people, especially those that are in vulnerable situations, including environmental human rights defenders, children, youth, women and indigenous peoples”, he said in a statement.

He added that the decision will also help States accelerate the implementation of their environmental and human rights obligations and commitments.

Guterres urged nations to make this newly recognized right ‘a reality for everyone, everywhere’.

Urgent action needed

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet also hailed the Assembly’s decision and urged to implement it.

“Today is a historic moment, but simply affirming our right to a healthy environment is not enough. The General Assembly resolution is very clear: States must implement their international commitments and scale up their efforts to realize it. We will all suffer much worse effects from environmental crises, if we do not work together to collectively avert them now,” she said.

Ms. Bachelet explained that environmental action based on human rights obligations provides vital guardrails for economic policies and business models.

“It emphasizes the underpinning of legal obligations to act, rather than simply of discretionary policy. It is also more effective, legitimate and sustainable,” she added.

A resolution for the whole planet

The text, originally presented by Costa Rica, the Maldives, Morocco, Slovenia and Switzerland last June, and now co-sponsored by over 100 countries, notes that the right to a healthy environment is related to existing international law and affirms that its promotion requires the full implementation of multilateral environmental agreements.

It also recognizes that the impact of climate change, the unsustainable management and use of natural resources, the pollution of air, land and water, the unsound management of chemicals and waste, and the resulting loss in biodiversity interfere with the enjoyment of this right – and that environmental damage has negative implications, both direct and indirect, for the effective enjoyment of all human rights.

According to the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment, Mr. David Boyd, the Assembly’s decision will change the very nature of international human rights law.

“Governments have made promises to clean up the environment and address the climate emergency for decades but having a right to a healthy environment changes people’s perspective from ‘begging’ to demanding governments to act”, he recently told UN News.

A victory five decades in the making

In 1972, the United Nations Conference on the Environment in Stockholm, which ended with its own historic declaration, was the first one to place environmental issues at the forefront of international concerns and marked the start of a dialogue between industrialized and developing countries on the link between economic growth, the pollution of the air, water and the ocean, and the well-being of people around the world.

UN Member States back then, declared that people have a fundamental right to “an environment of a quality that permits a life of dignity and well-being,” calling for concrete action and the recognition of this right.

Last October, after decades of work by nations at the front lines of climate change, such as the Maldives archipelago, as well as more than 1,000 civil society organisations, the Human Rights Council finally recognised this right and called for the UN General Assembly to do the same.

“From a foothold in the 1972 Stockholm Declaration, the right has been integrated into constitutions, national laws and regional agreements. Today’s decision elevates the right to where it belongs: universal recognition”, UN Environment chief, Inger Andersen, explained in a statement published this Thursday.

The recognition of the right to a healthy environment by these UN bodies, although not legally binding— meaning countries don’t have a legal obligation to comply— is expected to be a catalyst for action and to empower ordinary people to hold their governments accountable.

“So, the recognition of this right is a victory we should celebrate. My thanks to Member States and to the thousands of civil society organizations and indigenous peoples’ groups, and tens of thousands of young people who advocated relentlessly for this right. But now we must build on this victory and implement the right”, Ms. Andersen added.

Triple crisis response

As mentioned by the UN Secretary-General, the newly recognised right will be crucial to tackling the triple planetary crisis.

This refers to the three main interlinked environmental threats that humanity currently faces: climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss – all mentioned in the text of the resolution.

Each of these issues has its own causes and effects and they need to be resolved if we are to have a viable future on Earth.

The consequences of climate change are becoming increasingly apparent, through increased intensity and severity of droughts, water scarcity, wildfires, rising sea levels, flooding, melting polar ice, catastrophic storms and declining biodiversity.

Meanwhile, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution is the largest cause of disease and premature death in the world, with more than seven million people dying prematurely each year due to pollution.

Finally, the decline or disappearance of biological diversity – which includes animals, plants and ecosystems – impacts food supplies, access to clean water and life as we know it.

Source: UN

Tags: Antonio Guterresbusiness enterpriseschildrenCosta Ricaenvironmental injusticeshuman rightshuman rights defendersMoroccoprotection gapsSloveniaSwitzerlandthe Maldiveswomenyouth

Related Posts

Authorities in Senegal intensify repression ahead of 2024 election
Important

Authorities in Senegal intensify repression ahead of 2024 election

March 18, 2023
Saudi: Alarming crackdown on freedom of expression on cyberspace
Important

Saudi: Alarming crackdown on freedom of expression on cyberspace

February 14, 2023
A glance at the human rights situations since January 2023
Important

A glance at the human rights situations since January 2023

January 20, 2023
MKO lobbying to be removed from the list of terrorist groups
Important

MKO lobbying to be removed from the list of terrorist groups

January 9, 2023
Human Rights violations by the kingdom of Saudi Arabia
RESOURCES

Human Rights violations by the kingdom of Saudi Arabia

January 9, 2023
Media's dual approach to human rights events
Important

Media’s dual approach to human rights events

January 6, 2023

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

81 + = 82

POPULAR NEWS

Palestinian detainees cross 100 days of boycotting Israeli courts

Palestinian detainees cross 100 days of boycotting Israeli courts

April 15, 2022
Analysis of Taliban offensive and necessary action

Analysis of Taliban offensive and necessary action

April 11, 2022
Taliban rule accompanied by killings and abuses

Taliban rule accompanied by killings and abuses

April 17, 2022
What was behind the death of Qatar's migrant workers?

What was behind the death of Qatar’s migrant workers?

April 21, 2022
Rights groups demand whereabouts of detained Egyptian journalist

Rights groups demand whereabouts of detained Egyptian journalist

April 24, 2022

EDITOR'S PICK

Sri Lanka: Emergency regulations released over new president may trigger human rights

Sri Lanka: Emergency regulations released over new president may trigger human rights

July 20, 2022

Gitmo inmate goes to U.N. to sue U.S., allies over rights abuses at CIA black sites

May 2, 2021
World leaders gather to suppress human rights

World leaders gather to suppress human rights

November 18, 2021
Palestinian boy Rayan Suleiman dies after being chased by IDF

Palestinian boy Rayan Suleiman dies after being chased by IDF

October 4, 2022
HLHR.org

About HLHR

Ours is a familiar story. A group of friends from all over the world have come together to chase the dream many others have chased before and are religiously working to fulfill; a world where human lives and human rights are treasured.

Recent Posts

  • French police brutal with peaceful protesters
  • France24 TV fires journalist for her use of “pro-Palestine” terminology on social media
  • Arbitrary arrests, teargassing and brutal assault of protesters in Mozambique
  • Authorities in Senegal intensify repression ahead of 2024 election
  • UN envoy warns of grave human rights situation in North Korea

Categories

No Result
View All Result

© 2021 HLHR.ORG All rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • HOME
  • WHO WE ARE
  • TAKE ACTION
  • NEWS
  • RESEARCH
  • IMPACT
  • RESOURCES

© 2021 HLHR.ORG All rights reserved.