Advancing the universal human right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment: taking stock and what next? | HRC58 Side Event

About the Event

In October 2021, the Human Rights Council adopted resolution 48/13, recognizing the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment as a universal human right. This was followed by the General Assembly’s adoption of resolution 76/300 in July 2022, affirming the same right as indivisible from other human rights. These landmark resolutions resulted from over fifteen years of advocacy by environmentally progressive states, civil society organizations, environmental human rights defenders, UN actors, academia, and the private sector. Their recognition marks a critical step in global efforts to address climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution.

Following the adoption of these resolutions, former High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet urged states and international actors to take bold action in implementing this right through transformative policies that protect both people and nature. The recognition of this right has already influenced global environmental governance, as seen in frameworks such as the Sharm el-Sheikh Implementation Plan and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Many states have also begun incorporating the right into their national laws, and affected communities are increasingly using it to hold governments accountable for environmental harm and related human rights violations.

Despite this progress, the full realization of the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment remains a challenge. Strengthening multilateral environmental agreements, empowering environmental human rights defenders. expanding regional environmental rights agreements, and encouraging more states to recognize this right in national legislation are crucial next steps. Additionally, the Human Rights Council and the broader UN system must maintain their leadership role to ensure continued progress, reinforcing their commitment to this right beyond its initial recognition.

The side event aims to assess the progress made in adopting and implementing the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment at national, regional, and international levels. It will also explore ways for the Human Rights Council and the broader UN human rights system to further promote and accelerate this progress, with a particular focus on encouraging and supporting states in strengthening the implementation of this right within their national frameworks.

Highlights

Links

• Environment @ 58th Session of the UN Human Rights Council
• Human Rights, Biodiversity, and the Role of Geneva