The Glion Human Rights Dialogue 2022 (‘Glion VIII’): ‘The right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment – what does it mean for States, for rights-holders and for nature?’

The Glion Human Rights Dialogue is a retreat bringing together around sixty-five senior policy-makers and other stakeholders in an informal, non-attributable setting designed to promote open, forward-looking and solutions-oriented debate. This year’s Dialogue, which is organised by the Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the URG, in partnership with the Permanent Missions of Fiji, Iceland, the Maldives, Mexico, and Thailand, will be held from Monday 16th to Tuesday 17th May 2022 at Le Mirador Hotel in Chardonne, Switzerland.

On 8 October 2021, the Human Rights Council adopted resolution 48/13 on ‘The human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.’ Recognition of the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment followed a global campaign calling on the Council to take this step, and more than ten years of Council deliberations about the interplay between human rights and the environment. That has included, inter alia, the adoption (since 2011) of regular consensual resolutions, the establishment, in 2012, of a Special Procedures mandate on human rights and the environment, and normative work by the Special Rapporteur to clarify the relationship between human rights and the environment.

Notwithstanding this work, as well as recognition by the Council of the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, many questions around the scope and content of the right, as well as its implementation, remain to be clarified.

With the above in mind, Glion VIII will provide a space for stakeholders to exchange views on a broad array of questions including: what is the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment?; what has the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment meant where it is already recognised, at national and/or regional levels?; and what are the implications of UN recognition of the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, both nationally and internationally? 

As always, the outcome of the retreat, and the three policy dialogues held in preparation for the meeting, will be summarised in an informal document presenting some of the key messages, ideas and recommendations, which will seek to encourage and contribute to wider consideration of the issues.

Please find relevant documents below:

• Concept note
• Draft programme
• Background paper for break-out group I
• Background paper for break-out group II
• Background paper for break-out group III
• Draft list of participants
• Draft list of participants for the parallel break-out groups