Rights corner
Right to a healthy environment
The Right to a Healthy Environment requires a healthy human habitat, including clean water, air, and soil that are free from toxins or hazards that threaten human health. The human contribution to environmental degradation has long been recognized by international environmental law. The environmental justice and international human rights movements are increasingly applying a rights-based strategy to confront global environmental devastation, environmental racism, and to protect ecological habitats and the planet for future generations. The most developed human rights standard-setting in this area involves the right to water.
As with every human right, the right to a healthy environment entails the following obligations:
* Respect the obligation to respect requires governments to refrain from interfering directly or indirectly with the enjoyment of the right to a healthy environment
* Protect the obligation to protect requires governments to prevent third parties, such as corporations, from interfering in any way with the enjoyment of the right to a healthy environment
* Fulfill the obligation to fulfill requires governments to adopt the necessary measures to achieve the full realization of the right to a healthy environment
Source: Centre for Economic and Social Rights
