The General Assembly of the United Nations approved this Thursday the resolution that endorses that the right to a healthy environment is recognized worldwide and “becomes the guarantor of a healthy, safe and resilient planet, thus giving it the character of a universal human right”.
The resolution reiterated that “all states have the obligation to respect, protect and promote human rights, including this new right,” the UN reported on its website.
The resolution was approved by 161 votes in favor, 8 abstentions (China, Russia, Belarus, Cambodia, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Syria and Ethiopia) and no votes against.
In this regard, the president of the Human Rights Council, the Argentine ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Federico Villegas, stressed in a telephone conversation with Télam that the approval of the General Assembly “is very important”, and stressed that one of the most important Council roles “the progressive development of new human rights standards and norms”.
“The Council, after 20 years of discussions on environmental issues that were only seen from the environmental, social, economic or scientific point of view, approved a resolution that declared for the first time that the environment, healthy, clean and sustainable is a human right, and appointed a special rapporteur” in this matter.
The official clarified that “the Council is the main body, but it only has 47 member states. The important thing is that it went to the General Assembly” of the UN and that “that historic decision was now ratified” last year “by an overwhelming majority -162 votes from the 193 countries- and, therefore, it is the entire organization of The United Nations accepts this new dimension and perspective on environmental issues based on human rights”.
“Argentina actively participated last year in the negotiations in the Council and also here in the General Assembly,” he stressed.
The text, originally presented by Costa Rica, Maldives, Morocco, Slovenia and Switzerland last June, and now co-sponsored by more than 100 countries, points out that the right to a healthy environment is related to existing international law and states 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 inadequate management of chemicals and waste, and the consequent loss of biodiversity interfere in the enjoyment of this right.
And they added that “environmental damage has negative implications for the effective enjoyment of all human rights.”
The resolution, based on a similar text adopted last year by the Human Rights Council, calls on states, international organizations and businesses to step up their efforts to ensure a healthy environment for all.
After hearing the news, the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, welcomed the adoption of this “historic resolution” and said that this milestone shows that member states can unite 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 in vulnerable situations, such as environmental human rights defenders, children, youth, women and Indigenous villages”, he said in a statement.
And he added that the resolution will also help States to accelerate the fulfillment of their obligations and commitments in the field of environment and human rights.
“The international community has given universal recognition to this right and has brought us closer to making it a reality for all,” he claimed.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, also welcomed the Assembly’s decision and echoed the Secretary-General’s call for urgent action to be taken to implement it.
“Today (for this Thursday) is a historic moment, but it is not enough to affirm our right to a healthy environment. The General Assembly resolution is very clear: States must fulfill their international commitments and intensify their efforts to make it a reality. We will all suffer far worse effects from environmental crises, if we don’t work together to collectively prevent them now,” he said.
The resolution “emphasizes underpinning legal obligations to act (in favor of the environment), rather than simply allowing it to be a discretionary policy. It is also more effective, legitimate and sustainable,” he added.
The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment, David Boyd, assured that the Assembly’s decision will change the very nature of international human rights law.
“Governments promised to clean up the environment and tackle the climate emergency for decades, but having a right to a healthy environment changes people’s perspective from ‘begging’ to demanding governments act,” Boyd declared.
In 1972, the United Nations Conference on the Environment, held in Stockholm, which ended with its own historic declaration, was the first to place environmental issues at the forefront of international concerns and marked the beginning of a dialogue between industrialized and developing countries on the relationship between economic growth, air, water and ocean pollution, and the well-being of people on the planet.
The member states of the UN then declared that people have a fundamental right to “an environment of a quality that allows a dignified life and well-being”, and called for concrete actions and recognition of this right.
Last October, after decades of work by nations at the forefront of climate change, such as the Maldives archipelago, as well as more than 1,000 civil society organizations, the Human Rights Council finally recognized this right and asked the UN General Assembly to do the same.
