NPWJ welcomes EU discussions on the UN recognition of the right to a safe, clean, healthy, and sustainable environment

 
No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ) strongly welcomes the discussions of the European Union on the UN recognition of the right to a safe, clean healthy, and sustainable environment.
 
In the aftermath of the United Nations Human Rights Council's approval of the resolution on the human right to a safe, clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, EU institutions discussed this issue during the plenary session of the European Parliament on Tuesday 19 October 2021. 
 
The European Council, the European Commission and the European Parliament all stressed the paramount importance of this recognition at the international level, especially in view of the ongoing environmental crisis. Representatives underlined the role that the EU may play to fulfill the right to healthy environment, by working with Member States and international actors to promote, protect and respect this right, to protect nature and to restore biodiversity.
 
Human rights and the protection of the environment are intertwined, especially regarding future generations, children, women, indigenous peoples and other vulnerable groups. Indigenous people and environmental defenders in particular are facing unprecedented threats and their fundamental rights are at risk. 
 
Human wellbeing cannot be achieved without tackling and reversing the ongoing environmental crisis. The right to a healthy environment not only ensures the respect and fulfillment of human dignity, it also guarantees human existence. 
 
We hope that this attention at the European Parliament will prompt other national and international stakeholders to take swift and bold actions to guarantee respect for the human right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment.