#TheTimeIsNow – UN recognition of the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment: Past developments and future prospects

by Abigail WEISS, URG Fellow Blog, Blog, Climate change, EHRD, HRC, Human Rights Council, Human rights implementation and impact, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, R2HE, R2HE, SDGs, Thematic human rights issues

Last week, the URG, the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) and the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment, Dr. David Boyd, in partnership with New York University, held an expert seminar to look ahead towards the possible UN General Assembly recognition of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment (R2HE). Over the course of the …

Human Rights Day: From recognition to action on the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment

by Dr Shavana Haythornthwaite, Head, Human Rights Unit, Commonwealth Secretariat and Dr Justin Pettit, Human Rights Adviser, Commonwealth Secretariat Blog, Blog, By invitation, By invitation, Climate change, Contemporary and emerging human rights issues, EHRD, HRC, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, Thematic human rights issues

This blog was first published on the Commonwealth website The critical state of the environment, the acceleration of climate change, the serious impacts of pollution and the increasing loss of biodiversity are undeniable. They jeopardise food security, weaken public health, exacerbate conflict and displacement, deepen inequalities, undermine development, threaten achievement of the SDGs, and impede economic growth – all whilst …

#TheTimeIsNow: Was HRC46 the moment that momentum behind UN recognition of the right to a healthy environment became unstoppable?

by Camila Márquez and Mariana Montoya Blog, Blog, Climate change, EHRD, Human rights implementation and impact, R2E, R2E, Thematic human rights issues

The growing interest in, and movement towards, universal recognition of the right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment (R2E) reached a new crescendo at the 46th session of the UN Human Rights Council (Council). There was a sense that momentum behind UN recognition, built over decades, has brought the world to a ‘tipping point,’ where one last push …

The Escazú Agreement: A landmark regional treaty for environmental defenders

by Zaineb Ali, Universal Rights Group Blog, Blog, Contemporary and emerging human rights issues, EHRD, Environmental human rights defenders, Thematic human rights issues

The international community eagerly awaits the Escazú Agreement to come into force in early 2021 after having secured 12 ratifications (one more than the minimum required – 11). The Escazú Agreement , which emerged from the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), is the first legally binding instrument in the world to include provisions on environmental human rights defenders (EHRDs) …

The right to a healthy environment gives rise to a growing wave of climate change litigation

by Renata Politi, Universal Rights Group and Louis Mason, Universal Rights Group Blog, Blog, Climate change, Contemporary and emerging human rights issues, EHRD, Human rights implementation and impact, Implementation, R2E, R2E, Thematic human rights issues

In an amicus curiae brief submitted in the Norwegian Artic Oil case currently pending before the Norwegian Supreme Court, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment , David R. Boyd, and UN Special Rapporteur on hazardous substances and wastes , Marcos A Orellana, argued that “the justiciability of the right to a healthy environment empowers citizens and civil society, strengthening democratic decision-making and fostering accountability for political decisions. Access to justice is itself a fundamental human right, including in the …

It is time for the United Nations to recognise the human right to a healthy environment

by Professor John H. Knox, former UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment Blog, By invitation, By invitation, Climate change, Contemporary and emerging human rights issues, EHRD, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, Special Procedures, Thematic human rights issues

Earlier this month, on World Environment Day, the Executive Director of UN Environment, Erik Solheim, and I jointly stated that the historic moment has arrived for the United Nations to recognise the human right to a healthy environment at the global level. The fundamental UN human rights treaties do not include this right because the modern environmental movement began in the late 1960s, …

It’s time we all recognise the human right to a healthy environment

by Professor John H. Knox, former UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment Blog, By invitation, By invitation, Climate change, Contemporary and emerging human rights issues, EHRD, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, Special Procedures, Thematic human rights issues

Note: This article is based on a Joint Statement by UN Environment and the Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment ahead of World Environment Day.   Speaking ahead of World Environment Day on 5 June, the head of UN Environment, Mr Erik Solheim, and the Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment, Mr John Knox, issued a …

What are the human rights priorities of world governments in 2018?

by the URG team Blog, Corruption, EHRD, HRC, Human rights implementation and impact, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, Implementation, Prevention, Prevention, accountability and justice, Special Procedures, Thematic human rights issues, Treaty Bodies, UPR

An independent analysis of the High Level Segment of the Human Rights Council  At the opening of the 37th session of the Human Rights Council, nearly one hundred world leaders (e.g. presidents, prime ministers, ministers) delivered high level speeches commenting on the state of global human rights in 2018, and presenting their country’s priorities for the year ahead. The Universal Rights …

Time to act – recognising the right to a healthy environment

by Marcos A. Orellana, Director of the Environment and Human Rights Program at Human Rights Watch and Geneva Blog, By invitation, By invitation, Climate change, Contemporary and emerging human rights issues, EHRD, Thematic human rights issues

Global recognition of the right to a healthy environment is long overdue. There are opportunities emerging to do so, and this would give crucial support to threatened environmental activists. In March 2016, armed intruders battered down the door of the house where Honduran environmental activist Berta Cáceres, 44, was staying and killed her. By then, Cáceres, co-founder of the Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras, …