UN General Assembly Resolution declares access to a clean and healthy environment a human right

01-08-2022

Manon Picard

International Justice and Human Rights Researcher, 

Global Human Rights Defence.

On the 28th of July 2022, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a Resolution declaring “recognizing the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment as a human right and calling for greater global efforts to ensure that principle is upheld”. With 161 votes in favour and eight abstentions, the Resolution calls: 

“upon States, international organizations, business enterprises and other relevant stakeholders to adopt policies, enhance international cooperation, strengthen capacity-building and continue to share good practices in order to scale up efforts to ensure a clean, healthy and sustainable environment for all”. 

The Spokesperson of the Office stated that the Resolution will “help reduce environmental injustices, close protection gaps and empower people, especially those that are in vulnerable situations”. Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said that although affirming our right to a clean environment is important, it is not sufficient; adding that “[w]e will all suffer much worse effects from environmental crises, if we do not work together to collectively avert them now”. The Resolution is set to change the nature of international human rights law, according to UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment Mr. David Boyd. 

The Resolution aims to tackle the “triple planetary crisis” of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss. The United Nations General Assembly Resolution is a historic decision which demonstrates the collective fight against global warming. 

Sources and further reading:

United Nations. (2022, July 28). General Assembly Seventy-Sixth Session, 97th Meeting. https://press.un.org/en/2022/ga12437.doc.htm

United Nations. (2022, July 28). UN General Assembly declares access to clean and healthy environment a universal human right. UN News. Retrieved on August 1, 2022, from https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/07/1123482

Associated Press. (2022, July 28). UN resolution recognizes right to clean, healthy environment. The Washington Post. Retrieved on August 1, 2022, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/un-resolution-recognizes-right-to-clean-healthy-environment/2022/07/28/b32da94a-0ee7-11ed-88e8-c58dc3dbaee2_story.html