Morocco, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Slovenia, and the Maldives proposed a historic resolution to UN member States recognizing the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment as a universal human right.
The now-adopted resolution received the support of 161 member states, while 8 abstained at the UN’s 76th session.
This follows the recent adoption of a resolution by the UN Human Rights Council in October 2021, which for the first time recognized the human rights to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment.
The right to a healthy environment refers to existing international law and its promotion needs the full implementation of mutual environmental agreements, according to the text.
Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General qualified it as “an important tool for accountability and climate justice.”
“The well-being of people around the world and the survival of future generations depends on the health of our planet,” he added.
The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment, David Boyd, welcomed as well this important resolution and stressed that it will change the very nature of even international human rights norms.
The resolution is non-binding and does not directly create new obligations for states but will encourage countries to speed up the implementation of their environmental and human rights commitments.
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