In 1994, the Secretary General of the United Nations said that, without protection of the environment, the basis of human survival will be eroded.
Although the links between human rights and the environment have been well recognised for many years, environmental rights have, so far, been limited in their application. Ongoing research into the concept of the human right to a good environment has aimed at finding the proper functions of such a right. This has been done by taking a practical approach to the issues and to the development of the law itself.
The basic arguments relating to the development of human rights approaches to environmental protection have been well documented (see resources and links). The approach of the human right to a good environment is to apply substantive standards to the problems related to decision making which detrimentally affects the environment. This approach is detailed in the article by Steve Turner, The Human Right to a Good Environment – The sword in the stone, 4 NON STATE ACTORS AND INTERNATIONAL LAW, 277 (2004).
Time has shown that principles of sustainable development alone will not be sufficient to protect the environment as we are not achieving intergenerational equity. The interest that present and future generations have in the environment, need to be rooted in positive law. Therefore the human right to a good environment is not just a human right, but an obligation owed by all people, all organizations and all governments. Not only is it an obligation but it entails a decision making process that applies to all decisions that have the potential of degrading the environment. The purpose of this research is to examine and detail how such an approach can work in practice.
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