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| Fri, 22nd Jul 2022 9:42:00 |
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Why the UN General Assembly must back the right to a healthy environment |
In late July, the UN General Assembly is expected to vote on a draft resolution recognizing the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.
Costa Rica, the Maldives, Morocco, Slovenia and Switzerland presented the draft text to the 193-member Assembly, the UN’s most representative body, last June, following the landmark resolution adoption of a similar text adopted in October 2021 by the UN Human Rights Council.
The resolution recognizes the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment as a human right essential for the full enjoyment of all human rights and, among others, calls upon States and international organizations to adopt policies and scale up efforts to ensure a clean, healthy and sustainable environment for all.
But why is it important for the wider UN membership to recognize this right? And what will the adoption of this resolution mean for people around the world? UN News spoke to the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment, Mr. David Boyd, and asked him about these and other questions.
So, what action is going to be taken by the General Assembly?
David Boyd: There will likely be a vote on recognition of the Right to a Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment. This right that was not included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights back in 1948. So, this is really a historic resolution that will change the very nature of international human rights law.
Why is it important for countries to vote ‘yes’ on this resolution?
It’s important because in the face of the triple environmental crisis we’re facing – rapid climate change, the loss of biodiversity and pervasive toxic pollution that’s killing 9 million people every year – we need transformative changes to society, we need to quickly shift to renewable energy.
We also need to shift to a circular economy, and we need to detoxify society, and the right to a healthy environment is one of the most powerful tools we have to hold governments accountable.
General Assembly resolutions are not binding, meaning countries don’t have a legal obligation to comply with them, so how could they be held accountable?
Countries don't have a legal obligation, but they have a moral obligation.
We have a track record that we can look at where in 2010, the General Assembly passed the resolution recognizing for the first time that everyone has the right to water and sanitation.
That resolution similarly was not legally binding or enforceable, but it was a catalyst for a cascade of positive changes that have improved the lives of millions of people.
This is because countries responded to that resolution by changing their constitutions, their highest and strongest laws. So, Costa Rica, Fiji, Mexico, Slovenia, Tunisia and others did that. And most importantly, States really made it a top priority to deliver on fulfilling their obligations to provide people with clean drinking water. So, [ for example]in Mexico, the Government has not only recognized this right in its Constitution but has worked with rural communities to provide safe drinking water to over 1,000 rural communities in the last decade.
Canada has also worked with indigenous communities to upgrade water and sanitation infrastructure and more than 130 communities in the last decade.
So, these resolutions may seem abstract, but they are a catalyst for action, and they empower ordinary people to hold their governments accountable in a way that is very powerful.
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