Human Rights and the Environment: A New Report to the UN

Professor John H. Knox of Wake Forest University School of Law is the first UN Independent Expert on human rights and the environment. Appointed in July 2012, he is serving a three year mandate.  On Monday, March 24, Professor Knox presented his annual report to the UN Human Rights Council. In advance of that meeting, Professor Knox circulated the following description of his work:

This year, the report maps international human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment. It is based on an extensive survey of statements by human rights treaty bodies, UN special rapporteurs, regional human rights systems, international environmental instruments, and other sources. Those statements are described in 14 source-specific reports. The chief report and the supporting reports are available at http://ieenvironment.org.

The principal conclusions of the mapping project are:

o The human rights obligations relating to the environment include procedural obligations of States to assess environmental impacts on human rights and to make environmental information public, to facilitate participation in environmental decision-making, and to provide access to remedies. The obligation to facilitate public participation includes duties to safeguard the rights of freedom of expression and association against threats, harassment and violence.

o The human rights obligations relating to the environment also include substantive obligations of States to adopt legal and institutional frameworks that protect against environmental harm that interferes with the enjoyment of human rights, including harm caused by private actors. Although States have discretion to strike a balance between environmental protection and other legitimate societal interests, the balance cannot be unreasonable or result in unjustified, foreseeable infringements of human rights.

o States have a cross-cutting requirement of non-discrimination in the application of environmental laws, and additional obligations to members of groups particularly vulnerable to environmental harm, including in particular women, children and indigenous peoples.

Professor Knox’s report to the Council concludes: “Human rights obligations relating to the environment are continuing to be developed in many forums, and the Independent Expert urges States to support their further development and clarification. But the obligations are already clear enough to provide guidance to States and all those interested in promoting and protecting human rights and environmental protection. His main recommendation, therefore, is that States and others take these human rights obligations into account in the development and implementation of their environmental policies.”

[Editor’s Note (M Davis): The Independent Expert plans a consultation on good practices here in the U.S. in September 2014, as part of conference at Yale on Human Rights and Sustainability planned in conjunction with the UN Institute for Training and Research.   For more information on the conference, see:  http://ieenvironment.org/2014/03/04/human-rights-environmental-sustainability-post-2015-development-and-the-future-climate-regime-conference-at-yale-university/.  Deadline for submission of abstracts is April 1.]