In a historic move, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on July 28, 2022, adopted a resolution recognising the right to a healthy environment for all. It said the move is an important step in countering the alarming decline of the natural world.
India has voted in favour of the resolution but dissociated itself from an operative paragraph of the text. It voiced its concerns over the procedure and substance of the resolution. The operative paragraph 1 of the resolution reads that the UNGA recognises the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment as a human right. Counsellor in India’s Permanent Mission to the UN Ashish Sharma requested that this statement be included in the official records in the meeting.
The declining natural world
Our nature is declining globally. Species are on the verge of extinction with several reaching an alarming stage. For instance, according to the latest IUCN Red List, the migratory monarch butterfly has become an endangered, threatened species by habitat destruction and climate change. In addition to this, mountains and glaciers are melting faster than scientists previously thought.
The impact of climate change is so much so that it is being witnessed regularly. The recent soaring temperature in Europe is one example. The dying state of nature led the UN to step up measures to protect it before it was too late.
UN passes Resolution
With 161 votes in favour, and eight abstentions, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring access to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, a universal human right. The resolution, based on a similar text adopted last year by the Human Rights Council, calls upon States, international organizations, and business enterprises to scale up efforts to ensure a healthy environment for all.
The resolution adopted was five decades in the making. From a foothold in the 1972 Stockholm Declaration, the right has been integrated into constitutions, national laws, and regional agreements.
The 1972 United Nations Conference on the environment in Stockholm was the first world conference to make the environment a major issue. The participants adopted a series of principles for sound management of the environment. The Stockholm Declaration placed environmental issues at the forefront of international concerns and marked the start of a dialogue on the link between economic growth, the pollution of the air, water, and oceans, and the well-being of people around the world.
UN General Assembly declares healthy environment a Human Right
One of the major results of the Stockholm conference was the creation of the United Nations Environment Programme. In October 2021, the UN Human Rights Council recognized for the first time, that having a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment is a human right.
In resolution 48/13, the Council called on States around the world to work together, and with other partners, to implement this newly recognized right. At the same time, through a second resolution (48/14), the Council also increased its focus on the human rights impacts of climate change by establishing a Special Rapporteur dedicated specifically to that issue..
UN passes Resolution
With 161 votes in favour, and eight abstentions, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring access to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, a universal human right. The resolution, based on a similar text adopted last year by the Human Rights Council, calls upon States, international organizations, and business enterprises to scale up efforts to ensure a healthy environment for all.
The resolution adopted was five decades in the making. From a foothold in the 1972 Stockholm Declaration, the right has been integrated into constitutions, national laws, and regional agreements.
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