Human Rights and the Environment

A/HRC/RES/31/8No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 3Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, published in 2016.

What other versions does this mandate have?

8 versions · 2011–2021

This is an older version — the most recent is A/HRC/RES/46/7

2021A/HRC/RES/46/7Human rights and the environmentLatestCompare with previous version
2018A/HRC/RES/37/8Human rights and the environmentCompare with previous version
2017A/HRC/RES/34/20Human rights and the environmentCompare with previous version
2016A/HRC/RES/31/8Human rights and the environmentCompare with previous version
2015A/HRC/RES/28/11Human rights and the environmentCompare with previous version

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

What subjects does this mandate have?

8 topics

Climate Change Environment Environmental Policy Environmental Protection Human Rights Human Rights Policy International Obligations Sustainable Development

What does this mandate say?

29 operative paragraphs

Welcomes the work undertaken to date by the Special Rapporteur on the issue of human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment, and takes note of his most recent reports on possible methods of implementing human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment and on human rights obligations relating to climate change;

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;

Further welcomes the work undertaken by the United Nations Environment Programme in support of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur and in helping to clarify the relationship between human rights and the environment;

Calls upon States:

To respect, protect and fulfil human rights, including in actions relating to environmental challenges;

To adopt and implement laws ensuring, among other things, the rights to information, participation and access to justice in the field of the environment;

To facilitate public awareness and participation in environmental decision-making, including of civil society, women, youth and indigenous peoples, by protecting all human rights, including the rights to freedom of expression and to freedom of peaceful assembly and association;

To implement fully their obligations to respect and ensure human rights without distinction of any kind, including in the application of environmental laws and policies;

To promote a safe and enabling environment in which individuals, groups and organs of society, including those working on human rights and environmental issues, can operate free from threats, hindrance and insecurity;

To provide for effective remedies for human rights violations and abuses, including those relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment, in accordance with their international obligations and commitments;

To take into account human rights obligations and commitments relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment in the implementation and monitoring of the Sustainable Development Goals, bearing in mind the integrated and multisectoral nature of the latter;

Encourages States:

To adopt an effective normative framework for the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment;

To address compliance with human rights obligations and commitments relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment in the framework of human rights mechanisms, including the universal periodic review;

To facilitate the exchange of knowledge and experiences between experts in the environmental and human rights fields, and to promote coherence among different policy areas;

To build capacities for taking human rights obligations and commitments into account in their efforts to protect the environment;

To explore ways to incorporate information on human rights and the environment, including climate change, in school curricula, in order to teach the next generations to act as agents of change, including by taking into account indigenous knowledge;

To seek to ensure that projects supported by environmental finance mechanisms respect all human rights;

To collect disaggregated data on the effects of environmental harm on vulnerable groups, as appropriate;

To promote environmental action, including climate action, that is gender-responsive and takes into consideration the vulnerability of ecosystems and the needs of persons and communities in vulnerable situations;

To continue to share good practices in fulfilling human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment through the good practices database maintained by the Special Rapporteur;

To build capacity for the judicial sector to understand the relationship between human rights and the environment;

To foster a responsible private business sector and to encourage corporate sustainability reporting while protecting environmental standards in accordance with relevant international standards and agreements and other ongoing initiatives in this regard;

To consider further, among other aspects, respect for human rights within the framework of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change;

Looks forward to the twenty-second session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to be organized by Morocco, in Marrakesh, from 7 to 18 November 2016;

Recognizes the important role played by individuals, groups and organs of society, including human rights defenders, in the promotion and protection of human rights as they relate to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment;

Also recognizes the important role of national human rights institutions in support of human rights relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment;

Stresses the need for enhanced cooperation among States, the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Environment Programme, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and other relevant international and regional organizations, agencies and programmes, in accordance with their respective mandates, including by regularly exchanging knowledge and ideas and building synergies in the protection of human rights and the protection of the environment, bearing in mind an integrated and multisectoral approach;

Decides to remain seized of the matter, in accordance with its annual programme of work.

Paragraph content is machine-extracted from UN documents. For authoritative content, please refer to the official UN document.

No headings found in this document.

Who created this mandate?

What other versions does this mandate have?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What does this mandate say?

Table of contents