A Healthy Environment Must be a Human Right – Especially in Armed Conflict

Mar 3, 2016 | Doug Weir
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The question of whether a healthy environment is a human right has been occupying the minds of legal experts and governments since the 1980s. In spite of considerable progress, acceptance of the idea remains far from universal. Yet to the casual observer, the link seems obvious. Today, Prof. John Knox – the UN Human Rights Council’s (UNHRC) Special Rapporteur on the issue of human rights obligations relating to the environment will present his latest report on how these rights could be developed and implemented. We believe that the universalisation of these environmental rights could have a major role to play in how we judge and respond to the damage caused to the environment by armed conflicts.