Dr.Alok Kumar
Assistant Professor Department of Law,at
D.D.U.Gorakhpur University
Abstract
The right to a clean and healthy and sustainable environment shows the continuous development in the relationship between international law relating to the environment and human rights has been recognized. With the increase of environmental degradation, the people will face issues in the enjoyment of their fundamental human rights. In which the right to live, health, food, water, housing, privacy, culture, and human dignity has been included.Although international human rights instruments did not initially establish an explicit universal right to a healthy environment, environmental concerns gradually became integrated into the human rights framework through international declarations, treaties, regional instruments and judicial decisions the early development of environmental equality and human dignity are related to each other has been recognised in the year 1972 in Stockholm decoration, while the video declaration strengthen the concept relating to sustainable development, public participation and Human access to the justice and information.. The great development has been noticed. After the passing of resolution by the general assembly of the United Nations in two 2022 which has recognized the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. The resolution was adopted by 161 votes in favour, with no votes against and eight abstentions (United Nations General Assembly, 2022). This paper examines the historical evolution, legal foundations and contemporary significance of this right under international law. It further considers the relationship between environmental protection, climate change, sustainable development, intergenerational equity, indigenous peoples’ rights and procedural environmental rights. The paper argues that international recognition provides an important normative foundation, but effective protection ultimately depends upon implementation through domestic legal systems, institutional mechanisms, judicial remedies, public participation and international cooperation.
Keywords: clean environment, healthy environment, sustainable development, human rights, international environmental law, climate change, environmental justice, intergenerational equity
Introduction:
With the passing of time, the decrease in the quality of the environment is going to be a bigger challenge. In confronting the international. Pollution, climate change, biodiversity loss, deforestation, water scarcity and the destruction of ecosystems increasingly affect the conditions necessary for human life and dignity. These problems cannot be considered exclusively environmental issues because their consequences extend directly into the field of human rights. The quality of the environment in which people live has a direct relationship with their ability to enjoy basic rights, including the rights to life, health, food, water, housing and cultural life. Consequently, international law has increasingly recognised that environmental protection and human rights protection are closely interconnected.[1]
The development of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment has been gradual rather than the result of a single international treaty. Early international environmental instruments primarily focused on conservation, pollution control and cooperation between States. Over time, however, international institutions and courts began to recognise that environmental harm could interfere with established human rights. The Stockholm Declaration of 1972 represented an important milestone because its first principle connected human beings’ fundamental rights with environmental conditions capable of supporting a life of dignity and well-being (United Nations, 1972). This categorisation creates an early base for understanding environmental quality within a human rights framework.[2]
This relationship developed in 1992 by The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development.its 10th Principle makes a declaration about access to informationabout Environment, publicinterferencein decision-making and judicial and administrative access. These three elements have subsequently become central components of procedural environmental rights (United Nations, 1992).[3] The importance of these procedural guarantees lies in their ability to enable individuals and communities to participate meaningfully in decisions affecting their environment.
An important development was made on 28 July 2022, when the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 76/300, entitled “The Human Right to a Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment.” The resolution made a recognition of the right as a human right and called upon States, international organisations and other relevant actors to adopt policies and strengthen cooperation for its implementation (United Nations General Assembly, 2022).[4] The resolution was adopted by 161 votes in favour, with no votes against and eight abstentions.[5]
Developing those rights, big change occurred, now it has become easy to understand that the environmental protectionImportant for the enjoyment of Human rights.With this is also equally important to examine the legal consequences. Since you all know that the General Assembly resolution has made an important change, it is not operative Automatically in the state and makes these Principle Binding for the nations. The continuing challenge is therefore to translate international recognition into concrete obligations, institutional practices and effective remedies at national and international levels.
Historical Development of the Right to a Healthy Environment:
When we talk about the historical development of environmental rights related to human rights, it has been stressed during the twentieth century with the emergence of modern international environmental law. Before the 1970s, environmental protection was largely addressed through specific treaties concerning particular natural resources, transboundary pollution and conservation. Environmental protection was generally viewed through the perspective of State sovereignty and the management of natural resources. The growing recognition of the consequences of pollution and ecological degradation gradually changed this approach.[6]
The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, held in Stockholm in 1972, was a major turning point. Principle 1 of the Stockholm Declaration stated that, “human beings have a fundamental right to freedom, equality and adequate conditions of life in an environment of a quality that permits a life of dignity and well-being (United Nations, 1972).”[7] Although the Stockholm Declaration was not a treaty creating directly enforceable obligations for all States, it provided an important normative basis for connecting environmental protection with human welfare. The United Nations itself has noted that, “the Stockholm formulation became an important reference point in the development of the relationship between human rights and environmental protection.”[8]
The development continued through subsequent international environmental instruments and human rights mechanisms. ‘The World Charter for Nature, the Brundtland Report, the Rio Declaration and later sustainable development-goals’ frameworks contributed to a broader understanding of environmental protection.[9] The Brundtland Commission’s formulation of sustainable development placed emphasis on meeting the needs of present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987). This concept became an important foundation for connecting environmental protection with economic and social development.[10]
The 1992 Rio Declaration strengthened the participatory dimension of environmental governance. Principle 10 recognised that environmental issues should be addressed with the participation of concerned citizens and emphasised access to information, participation in decision-making and access to judicial and administrative proceedings (United Nations, 1992).[11] These principles remain significant because environmental rights are not limited to the substantive quality of the environment; they also concern the ability of individuals and communities to participate in decisions that affect environmental conditions.
The Right to a Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment as a Human Right:
The emergence of the right as an explicit human right represents a major development in international law. For several decades, international human rights law protected environmental interests indirectly through rights such as the right to life, health, property, privacy, family life and culture. Regional human rights systems and domestic courts frequently addressed environmental harm through these established rights. This approach demonstrated that serious environmental degradation could interfere with the enjoyment of recognised human rights even where the relevant legal instrument did not expressly refer to a right to a healthy environment.[12]
The adoption of United Nations General Assembly Resolution 76/300 in 2022 marked an important step toward expressing international recognition. The resolution recognised “the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment” as a human right and linked environmental protection with the enjoyment of existing human rights (United Nations General Assembly, 2022).[13]. The resolution also emphasised that the exercise of rights relating to information, participation and effective remedies is important to the protection of a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.[14]
The significance of this recognition extends beyond terminology. It strengthens the conceptual relationship between environmental protection and State responsibility. If environmental quality is understood as a human rights concern, States must consider the human rights consequences of environmental policies, development projects and environmental degradation. This approach can also provide affected individuals and communities with additional legal and institutional avenues through which environmental concerns may be raised.[15]
At the same time, the precise legal status and implementation of the right continue to develop. General Assembly resolutions are important instruments of international law and may contribute to the development of international norms, but their legal character differs from that of binding treaty provisions. The practical effectiveness of the right therefore depends substantially on national constitutions, legislation, judicial decisions, environmental regulations and international commitments.[16]
Environmental Rights and Sustainable Development:
The right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is completely in line with the core Principles of Sustainable Development. Sustainable development seeks to integrate environmental protection with economic and social objectives. Environmental protection cannot be separated entirely from questions of poverty, public health, employment, energy, food security and access to natural resources. Consequently, environmental governance requires decision-making that considers both ecological sustainability and human well-being.[17]
The sustainable development approach also emphasises intergenerational responsibility. Environmental resources such as forests, freshwater, oceans and biodiversity provide benefits extending beyond the present generation. This continuous increase of exploitation of natural resources may cause reduction in enjoyment of the upcoming generation of these resources. Intergenerational equity therefore provides an important ethical and legal principle for environmental decision-making. Environmental policies should consider not only immediate economic benefits but also long-term ecological consequences.[18]
Climate Change and Human Rights:
Climate change has made the human rights dimension of environmental protection increasingly significant. Rising temperatures, extreme weather events, droughts, floods and changes in agricultural patterns can affect the enjoyment of numerous human rights. Vulnerable populations may experience particularly serious consequences because they may have fewer economic and institutional resources to adapt to environmental changes.[19]
Whenever human rights get connected with the change of climate it is the state who has to make the essential policies to the human dignity and fundamental rights. It also emphasises the importance of participation, transparency and access to information. Climate policies that affect communities, livelihoods and natural resources therefore raise questions that extend beyond environmental regulation and involve broader human rights considerations.
Procedural Environmental Rights:
Procedural rights are essential for the practical implementation of the right to a healthy environment. Access to information enables individuals to understand environmental risks and evaluate the potential consequences of government and private activities. Public participation allows affected communities to express their concerns before environmental decisions are finalised. Access to justice provides mechanisms through which environmental violations can be challenged and remedies can be sought.
Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration remains particularly relevant in this context because it identifies information, participation and access to justice as essential elements of environmental governance (United Nations, 1992).[20] The development of the Aarhus Convention further demonstrates the importance of these procedural rights. The Convention establishes international obligations concerning access to environmental information, public participation in environmental decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, 1998).
Environmental Justice and Vulnerable Communities:
Environmental degradation does not affect all sections of society equally. Communities with limited economic resources may be more exposed to pollution, hazardous industries, inadequate sanitation and environmental disasters. Indigenous peoples may face particular risks because their cultural identity, livelihoods and traditions can be closely connected with land and natural resources. Children and future generations may also experience long-term consequences from environmental degradation.
The human rights approach therefore requires environmental policies to consider questions of equality and vulnerability. Protection of the environment should not merely focus on aggregate environmental indicators but should also examine who bears environmental risks and who receives the benefits of development. Environmental justice consequently provides an important framework for understanding the distributional consequences of environmental decisions.
State Obligations and Corporate Responsibility:
States remain central actors in the protection of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. Their responsibilities may include establishing effective environmental standards, preventing serious environmental harm, regulating hazardous activities, conducting environmental impact assessments, ensuring public participation and providing effective remedies. Resolution 76/300 reaffirmed the responsibility of States to respect, protect and promote human rights in addressing environmental challenges (United Nations General Assembly, 2022).[21]
At the same time, environmental protection cannot be achieved solely through governmental action. Businesses may significantly influence environmental outcomes through industrial production, resource extraction, infrastructure development and supply-chain activities. Corporate environmental responsibility therefore forms an increasingly important component of environmental governance. Effective regulation may require environmental due diligence, disclosure, impact assessment and mechanisms through which individuals affected by corporate activities can seek remedies.[22]
Challenges in Implementation:
Despite significant progress, several challenges remain. One challenge concerns the difference between international recognition and domestic enforceability. Recognition at the international level does not automatically guarantee that every individual will have a directly enforceable claim in a domestic court. The implementation of the right depends on national constitutional structures, legislation and judicial interpretation.
A second challenge concerns differences in economic and institutional capacity among States. Developing countries may face substantial financial and technological difficulties in implementing ambitious environmental standards while simultaneously addressing poverty, infrastructure and development needs. International cooperation, technology transfer, capacity building and financial assistance can therefore play an important role in strengthening environmental protection.
Another challenge concerns balancing development objectives with environmental protection. Infrastructure, energy production, mining and industrial development may provide substantial economic and social benefits while simultaneously creating environmental risks. Sustainable development requires decision-makers to assess these competing interests through transparent, evidence-based and participatory processes.
Judicial interpretation:
Social and Economic Rights Action Center (SERAC) & CESR v. Nigeria — African Commission, 2001,The case concerned extensive oil exploration and environmental degradation in Ogoniland, Nigeria, including pollution of land and water and its consequences for the Ogoni people.The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights found Nigeria responsible for violations of several provisions of the African Charter, including Articles 16 (right to health), 21 (natural resources) and 24 (right to a satisfactory environment).[23]Recognised environmental protection as a human-rights obligation.Linked environmental degradation with health, livelihood and community rights.Emphasised the State’s duties to prevent pollution, investigate violations, provide remedies and protect affected communities.Article 24 became particularly significant because it expressly protects the right to a satisfactory environment.States must take reasonable measures to prevent environmental harm caused by both public and private actors. In The Environment and Human Rights (Advisory Opinion OC-23/17) — Inter-American Court of Human Rights, 2017,This is one of the most important international authorities on the right to a healthy environment.The Inter-American Court examined the relationship between environmental protection and rights to life and personal integrity under the American Convention. Inter-American Court of Human RightsThe Court recognised environmental protection as having both individual and collective dimensions and developed State obligations concerning environmental harm.The Court identified important procedural obligations, including:access to environmental information;public participation in environmental decision-making;access to justice and effective remedies;prevention of significant environmental damage;environmental impact assessment;cooperation in situations involving transboundary environmental harm.[24]
InPortillo Cáceres et al. v. Paraguay,The case concerned alleged environmental contamination associated with agricultural activities and pesticide use in Paraguay. The UN Human Rights Committee considered the issue under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).The decision illustrates that environmental pollution can engage the right to life and the protection of one’s home and family even though the ICCPR does not contain an express standalone right to a healthy environment.Environmental pollution can constitute a human-rights issue where it creates sufficiently serious risks to life, health, family or home.[25]
Carême v. France — ECtHR, 2024
The applicant complained that France had failed to take sufficient measures against climate change and relied principally upon Articles 2 and 8 of the European Convention.The Grand Chamber declared the application inadmissible because the applicant did not satisfy the Convention’s victim-status requirements.
Conclusion:
The right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment has developed into an important principle at the intersection of international human rights law and international environmental law. Its historical development can be traced from the Stockholm Declaration and the Rio Declaration to the growing jurisprudence of international and regional human rights institutions. The adoption of United Nations General Assembly Resolution 76/300 in 2022 represents a significant international recognition of the right and confirms the increasing importance of environmental conditions for the enjoyment of human rights.
Nevertheless, recognition is only one stage in the development of an effective environmental right. The practical value of the right depends upon implementation through domestic law, effective institutions, environmental standards, public participation, access to information and access to justice. Climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution and environmental inequality demonstrate the continuing need for an integrated human rights and environmental approach. The future development of international environmental law will therefore depend not only upon the recognition of environmental rights but also upon the ability of States and other actors to translate those rights into effective protection for present and future generations.
References
United Nations. (1972). Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (Stockholm Declaration). United Nations.
United Nations. (1992). Rio Declaration on Environment and Development. United Nations.
United Nations General Assembly. (2022). The human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment (A/RES/76/300). United Nations. https://www.un.org/
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. (1998). Convention on access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters. United Nations.
World Commission on Environment and Development. (1987). Our common future. Oxford University Press.
[1] Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), What is the Right to a Healthy Environment? Information Note (2023)
[2] United Nations, Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (Stockholm Declaration), 16 June 1972, Principle 1.
[3] United Nations, Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (1992), Principle 10.
[4] UN General Assembly, The Human Right to a Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment, GA Res 76/300, UN Doc A/RES/76/300 (28 July 2022).
[5] UN General Assembly, 97th plenary meeting, 28 July 2022; the recorded vote was 161 in favour, 0 against and 8 abstentions.
[6] Philippe Sands and Jacqueline Peel, Principles of International Environmental Law (4th edn, Cambridge University Press 2018); United Nations, Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (1972).
[7] Stockholm Declaration, Principle 1.
[8] https://legal.un.org/avl/ha/dunche/dunche.html
[9] UN General Assembly, World Charter for Nature, GA Res 37/7 (28 October 1982), principles 1–5
[10] World Commission on Environment and Development, Our Common Future (1987), UN Doc A/42/427,
[11] Rio Declaration, Principle 10.
[12] UN Human Rights Committee, Portillo Cáceres et al v Paraguay, Communication No 2751/2016, UN Doc CCPR/C/126/D/2751/2016 (2019); Inter-American Court of Human Rights, The Environment and Human Rights, Advisory Opinion OC-23/17 (15 November 2017).
[13] UNGA Res 76/300, paras 1–2.
[14]https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/climatechange/information-materials/2023-01-06/r2heinfofinalweb.
[15] OHCHR, The Human Right to a Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment,
[16] See UNGA Res 76/300; see also UN Human Rights Council, The Human Right to a Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment, HRC Res 48/13 (8 October 2021)
[17] https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/development-goals/
[18] World Commission on Environment and Development, Our Common Future (1987), UN Doc A/42/427. See also UN General Assembly, Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development, GA Res 42/187 (11 December 1987).
[19] OHCHR, The Climate Crisis is a Human Rights Crisis
[21] United Nations Human Rights Council, Framework Principles on Human Rights and the Environment, UN Doc A/HRC/37/59 (24 January 2018), Principles 1, 3 and 8
[22] UN General Assembly, United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, GA Res 61/295 (13 September 2007), arts 25, 26 and 29
[23] Social and Economic Rights Action Center (SERAC) & CESR v. Nigeria — African Commission, 2001
[24] The Environment and Human Rights (Advisory Opinion OC-23/17) — Inter-American Court of Human Rights, 2017
[25] Verein Klima Seniorinnen Schweiz and Others v. Switzerland,2024
