New York, 29 July 2022 (TDI): The European Union (EU) welcomed the adoption of the United Nations (UN) R2he resolution on access to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment as a universal human right on Thursday.
EU & its Member States welcome the adoption of today’s important UN General Assembly resolution on the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment as a human right, which is important for the enjoyment of all human rights.
🇪🇺EU Statement➡️ https://t.co/HBdKtU14yl pic.twitter.com/tAsnjM4NoF
— 🇪🇺EU at UN-NY (@EUatUN) July 28, 2022
The Right to healthy environment (R2he) resolution was adopted with 161 votes in favor and eight absentations at the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
Previously, in June 2022, Switzerland, Maldives, Costa Rica, Morocco, and Slovenia presented a draft of a 74 (b) resolution on the human right to a healthy environment at the UN General Assembly. The official document of resolution is yet to be published.
However, resolution 74 (b) is based upon Resolution 48/13 on the “right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment (the R2he)”, adopted by UN Human Rights Council in October 2021.
UN Secretary General’s statement
Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General, in a statement released by his Spokesperson’s office, said
“This landmark development demonstrates that the Member States can come together in our collective fight against the triple planetary crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution.
The international community has given universal recognition to this right and brought us closer to making it a reality for all.
The resolution will help reduce environmental injustices, close protection gaps and empower people. It will also help States accelerate the implementation of their environmental and human rights obligations and commitments.”
Remarks by the EU delegation
EU remarked:
The EU welcomes the adoption of this important resolution on the human right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment as a human right, which is important for the enjoyment of all human rights.
Some form of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is already enshrined in numerous national and regional instruments.
But more needs to be done to fully grasp the magnitude of these challenges and translate it into policies and actions that have human rights at the center. The General Assembly resolution at hand lays the ground for such action.
We also underline the important role of human rights defenders working on environmental matters, referred to as environmental human rights defenders, which we would have wished to have seen in the text.
The EU is committed to pursuing its role as a global leader in these efforts. We are substantially reducing our carbon emissions and we remain the world’s largest provider of climate financing.
For the reasons outlined above, the members of the European Union voted yes today.
Thank you.
