Friday saw the approval of a historic resolution by the UN General Assembly that recognized for the first time that everyone, everywhere, has a human right to live in a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. Bangladeshi teenage climate activists applauded the resolution.
In a joint statement, the environmental organizations Fridays for Future Bangladesh and YouthNet for Climate Justice applauded the “historic” decision and stated that there is an undeniable and unbreakable link between human rights and a healthy environment and that the survival of future generations depends on the health of our planet. Sadly, it took the world fifty years to recognize this right as a fundamental human right, despite the fact that it was included in the Stockholm Declaration’s first section in 1972 as a component of the “right to life” and a “basic human right.”
“The recognition of the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is of vital importance in the face of the triple planetary crisis – climate, biodiversity loss, and pollution, for the well-being of people, especially for youth & the survival of future generations.,” aforementioned Sohanur Rahman, the founding member of the Fridays for Future Bangladesh chapter, in a statement. This historic breakthrough for people and also the planet more to be a catalyst for accountability, a lot of bold climate action and progress toward environmental justice, hoped Sohanur.
“In our constitution (Article 18 ) to conserve the environment was placed in the lightweight of the basic principles of state policy. As per the constitution, the government not solely must shield the environment but also work to boost it to protect people’s right to life, said Shakila Islam, National Coordinator of the YouthNet for Climate Justice within the statement. She stressed improved policies with positive implications for air quality, safe and adequate water, healthy soil, sustainably produced food, green energy, global climate change, biodiversity and the regulation of virulent substances and apply them in a proper approach.
Earlier, The united nations Human Rights Council’s (HRC) 47th session adopted a resolution last year recognizing the right to a healthy environment as a fundamental human right. Despite this, the general public around the globe still lacks access to a secure, clean, and healthy environment. Currently, contaminated air is inhaled by 90th of the world’s population. the primary direct regard to human rights in the context of the united nations Framework Convention on global climate change (UNFCCC) was made when the call named the HRC resolution, which acknowledges the negative impacts of global climate change on the effective enjoyment of human rights and calls upon States to make sure respect for human rights in their climate actions.
The Paris Agreement 2015 to the UNFCCC expands on this phrase by requiring States to “respect, promote, and take into account their respective commitments on human rights” when taking action to address global climate change. These rights include, among others, those of indigenous peoples, local communities, children, people in vulnerable situations, migrants, and persons with disabilities. They also include the rights to health, development, gender equality, the empowerment of women, and intergenerational parity.
