United Nations – October 9 (Online): The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHCR) acknowledged Friday that access to a “safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment” is a basic human right for the first time.
Despite criticism from some countries, including the United States and United Kingdom, ahead of the UNHCR session, the new resolution — proposed by Costa Rica, the Maldives, Morocco, Slovenia and Switzerland — passed with significant support of 43 votes, according to a press release. Russia, India, China and Japan abstained.
The vote — which comes weeks before the crucial COP26 summit in Glasgow, Scotland — also created a Special Rapporteur role to address the human rights impact of climate change. Special rapporteurs are independent human rights experts with “mandates to report and advise on human rights from a thematic or country-specific perspective,” according to the intergovernmental organization.
Human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said in a statement that “recognizing the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is about protecting people and planet — the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat.”
Bachelet added that she felt “gratified” by the way in which the decision “clearly recognizes environmental degradation and climate change as interconnected human rights crises.”
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