Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Support for climate litigation grows as UN says healthy environment is a human right

© Shutterstock / petrmalinakPost Thumbnail

While the UN previously recognised a healthy environment as a human right, in July 2022 it passed a resolution recognising the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment as a human right.

Resolution not binding but 80% of UN has national commitments

The resolution is not legally binding on the 193 UN Member States. Advocates however are hopeful that it will have a trickle-down effect, prompting countries to enshrine the right to a healthy environment in national constitutions and regional treaties, and encouraging states to implement those laws.

So far over 80% of UN Member States already recognise the right to a healthy environment through national law, court decisions or regional treaties. This latest resolution recalled the ‘Human Rights Council resolution 48/13 of 8 October 2021, entitled “The human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment”, and marks a watershed moment as it calls on all states, international business and international organisations to scale up action on a sustainable environment for all.

UN resolution provides support for climate litigation

The idea is to give individuals and stakeholders the right to challenge governments to ensure they have access to clean air, safe and sufficient water, healthy foods and eco systems and none toxic environments. As Inger Andersen, executive director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said: “This resolution sends a message that nobody can take nature, clean air and water, or a stable climate away from us – at least, not without a fight,”

There is a growing body of case law demonstrating how the law can be used to impact state and corporate behaviour, and supporters believe it will give environmental campaigners more ammunition to challenge ecologically destructive policies and projects.

Governments taken to task for failure to act on climate

In 2019 for example, following a lawsuit by an environmental group, the Netherland’s top court ordered the Dutch Government to do more to cut carbon emissions, saying climate change was a direct threat to human rights. The UK government is currently being sued about granting permission for a new gas field and July 2022 saw Brazil became the first state to recognise the Paris Agreement as a human rights treaty, in a Supreme Court ruling on a case about financial distribution from a national climate fund.

Legal reforms accelerate around the world

The General Assembly resolution follows a series of similar legal reforms at the international and national levels. In 2021, New York state passed a constitutional amendment guaranteeing citizens a right to a “healthful environment.” In April 2022, the UN Human Rights Council declared access to a “clean, healthy and sustainable environment” a human right.

Earlier this year, countries in Latin America and the Caribbean pledged more protections for so-called environmental defenders. This is especially important in terms of including indigenous peoples campaigning against logging, mining and oil exploration in protected areas. One of the first of such rulings was the protection of 500,000 acres for Waraoni land in the Educadorian Amazon in 2019.

Even aside from the threat of climate change, the risks of nature and biodiversity loss and the impacts of pollution and waste, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), 24% of all global deaths, roughly 13.7 million deaths a year, are linked to the environment due to risks such as air pollution and chemical exposure. There is also a growing body of research connecting the actions of countries, and of particular companies, to the economic damage caused by emissions.

More from SG Voice

Latest Posts