Advancing the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment: Options and ways forward to advance the R2E, as well as broader rights-based approaches to environmental policy

Around two years after the adoption of the twin Human Rights Council and General Assembly resolutions recognising the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment (HRC/RES/48/13, and A/RES/76/300), and as the tenure of David Boyd as Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment (perhaps soon to be renamed Special Rapporteur on the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment) comes to an end, it is an opportune moment to take stock of progress made in giving this newly-recognised universal right meaning for both people and planet, and to consider next steps in advancing the legal recognition, multilateral mainstreaming, implementation, and monitoring of this right.

Since UN recognition, important steps have been taken at international, regional, and national levels, though much remains to be done. However, further work remains to be done at the international, regional, and national levels to legally recognise and mainstream the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment.

Against this background, on 7 March, the Universal Rights Group will convene a working breakfast with traditional champions of the right to a healthy environment, including the current and former Special Rapporteurs, as well as other key players, to discuss options and concrete ways forward to advance the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, as well as broader rights-based approaches to environmental policy. In order to inform the discussion, the Universal Rights Group will also present various reports prepared in collaboration with partners, including a report on policy options to advance the right to a healthy environment, a report on best practices in safeguarding environmental human rights defenders, a handbook to inform understanding of human rights as they relate to the environment, and an end of session report (from a human rights perspective) of developments at UNEA-6, from URG staff in Nairobi.

The event will also be an opportunity for OHCHR, UNEP, URG and others to report back from a similarly themed event (i.e., ‘Advancing the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment’) to be held in Nairobi on 26 February, on the margins of UNEA-6.