UNEP, UN Human
Rights Office sign new agreement, stepping up commitment to protect the human
right to a healthy environment
· UN Environment Programme and UN Human
Rights chiefs formalise new partnership to protect environmental and human
rights
· Strengthened cooperation aims to drive
better protection of environmental human rights defenders and their families
· Agreement will seek to increase
support for national implementation of human rights-based environmental
policies
GENEVA (16
August 2019) – As threats to individuals and communities defending their
environmental and land rights intensify in many parts of the world, the UN
Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN Human Rights Office have prioritised
efforts to promote and protect environmental and human rights with the signing
today of a new cooperation agreement.
The heads of
the two UN bodies agreed that although more than 150 countries have recognised
the human right to a healthy environment in their constitutions, national laws
and jurisprudence, or through regional agreements, significantly more work is
needed to inform policy-makers, justice institutions and the public on the
various ways they can take action to uphold this right.
Strengthened
cooperation between UNEP and the UN Human Rights Office will aim to drive
better protection of environmental human rights defenders and their families,
who frequently face violence – including killings and sexual violence, smear
campaigns, and other forms of intimidation.
The
partnership will also encourage greater acceptance by leaders and governments
of the human right to a healthy environment pursuing efforts toward its global
recognition. It will seek to increase support to national governments to
promote human rights-based policies, particularly in terms of sustainable
management of natural resources, development planning, and action to combat
climate change.
The two
organisations will now work more closely to monitor threats against
environmental rights defenders; advocate for better protection; urge more
effective accountability for perpetrators of violence and intimidation; develop
networks of environmental human rights defenders and promote meaningful and
informed participation by rights defenders and civil society in environmental
decision-making.
“A healthy
environment is vital to fulfilling our aspiration to ensure people everywhere
live a life of dignity. We must curb the
emerging trend of intimidation and criminalisation of land and environmental
defenders, and the use of anti-protest and anti-terrorism laws to criminalise
the exercise of rights that should be constitutionally protected,” UNEP
Executive Director Inger Andersen said at the signing in Geneva.
“UNEP and the
UN Human Rights Office are committed to bringing environmental protection
closer to the people by assisting state and non-state actors to promote,
protect and respect environmental and human rights. In doing so, we will move
towards a more sustainable and just planet,” she added.
“Our planet is
being recklessly destroyed, and we urgently need stronger global partnerships
to take action to save it," said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Michelle Bachelet. "We call on leaders and governments to recognise that
climate change and environmental degradation severely undermine the human
rights of their people, particularly those in vulnerable situations – including
the generations of tomorrow.”
“We encourage
every State to develop and enforce national legal frameworks which uphold the
clear linkages between a healthy environment and the ability to enjoy all other
human rights, including the rights to health, water, food – and even the right
to life,” she added. “We also strongly encourage greater recognition that the
actions and advocacy of environmental human rights defenders are deeply
beneficial to all societies. They must be better protected against the threat
of violence and intimidation.”
Reports
suggest that more than three defenders were killed across the world every week
in 2018. The latest death toll highlights the ongoing dangers facing those who
are defending their environmental and human rights in the mining, logging, and
farming sectors as well as other extractive industries.
ENDS
NOTES TO
EDITORS
About the
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
UNEP is the
leading global voice on the environment. It provides leadership and encourages
partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing, and enabling
nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that
of future generations. UNEP works with governments, the private sector, civil
society and with other UN entities and international organizations across the
world.
About the UN
Human Rights Office
The Office of
the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights is the leading UN entity on human
rights, with a unique mandate to promote and protect the human rights of
everyone everywhere. It assists governments -- which bear the primary
responsibility for protecting human rights -- to fulfil their obligations, and
carries out advocacy on the full range of civil, political, social, economic
and cultural rights.
For more
information on this press release, please contact:
Keishamaza
Rukikaire, Head, News and Media Unit, UNEP, rukikaire@un.org
Ben Schachter,
Human Rights Officer, Climate Change and Environment, bschachter@ohchr.org
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