A/HRC/RES/58/16
Recognizing the positive, important and legitimate role played by children and by
child- and youth-led movements that defend human rights relating to a clean, healthy and
sustainable environment, and welcoming the work of the Special Rapporteur on the human
right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment in engaging and consulting with
children,
Reaffirming that States have the obligation to respect, protect and promote human
rights, including in all actions undertaken to address environmental challenges, and to take
measures to protect the rights of all, as recognized in different international instruments and
reflected in the framework principles on human rights and the environment, 4 and that
additional measures for those who are particularly vulnerable to environmental harm should
be taken,
1.
Welcomes the work undertaken by the Special Rapporteur on the human right
to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, including in the implementation of the
mandate, the comprehensive, transparent and inclusive consultations conducted with relevant
stakeholders, and her thematic reports;
2.
Also welcomes the work of the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights on the issue of human rights and the environment, including
its collaboration with the Secretary-General, the United Nations Environment Programme
and other key partners, and its engagement with multilateral environmental agreements, such
as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the United Nations
Convention to Combat Desertification and the Convention on Biological Diversity;
3.
Further welcomes the work undertaken by the United Nations Environment
Programme, the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations International
Children’s Emergency Fund and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the
Empowerment of Women in support of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur, and in helping
to clarify the relationship between human rights and the environment;
4.
Encourages States to engage constructively in the United Nations Ocean
Conference, to be held in Nice, France in June 2025, and to consider the human right to a
clean, healthy and sustainable environment in its proceedings and outcomes;
5.
Calls upon States:
(a)
To respect, protect and fulfil human rights, including in all actions undertaken
to address environmental challenges, including climate change, marine biodiversity loss,
pollution and land degradation;
(b)
To adopt and implement strong laws ensuring, among other things, the rights
to participation, to access to information and to justice, including to an effective remedy, in
environmental matters;
(c)
To facilitate public awareness and the participation of civil society, women,
children, youth, Indigenous Peoples, peasants, local communities, small-scale fisherfolk and
coastal communities, older persons, persons with disabilities, migrants and others who
depend directly on biodiversity and ecosystem services in the environmental decisionmaking process, including regulatory processes, by protecting all human rights, including the
rights to freedom of expression and to freedom of peaceful assembly and association;
(d)
To implement fully their obligations to respect, protect and fulfil human rights
without discrimination of any kind, including in the application of environmental laws and
policies;
(e)
To promote a safe and enabling environment in which individuals, civil society
organizations, including environmental human right defenders and those working on human
rights and environmental and marine issues can operate free from threats, hindrance and
insecurity;
4
A/HRC/37/59, annex.
5