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Adam Cohn>
22 March 2022
Global environmental challenges – climate change, food insecurity or lack of access to water, land or raw materials – are on the rise. Besides their major impact on stability and security worldwide, they are also leading to displacement, human rights violations and conflict.
Building on the recent recognition by the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (HRC) of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, our new research aims at mainstreaming this right and the protection it affords in the work of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly and Geneva-based human rights mechanisms – UN treaty bodies, the HRC, its Special Procedures and Universal Periodic Review.
Adam Cohn>
UN human rights mechanisms and the UN General Assembly play a crucial role in devising concrete avenues and recommendations for implementing the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, notably at the national level.
‘This mainstreaming will notably encourage states to prioritize the implementation of this right through legislation, policy and resource allocation. It will also potentially provide access to justice and remedies for those who suffer from the impacts of environmental degradation and climate change’ explains Dr Christophe Golay, Senior Research Fellow and Strategic Adviser on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights at the Geneva Academy.
‘It is important to build on this momentum and work for ensuring implementation, notably by providing relevant stakeholders – states, UN human rights mechanisms and oversight mechanisms of multilateral environmental agreements – with the scientific-based evidence to guide their work in integrating and better protecting the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. This is precisely what we will do with this project’ underlines Dr Megan Donald, Associate Research Fellow at the Geneva Academy.
Christine Olson
Geneva Academy
This project forms part of our research cluster on sustainable development that aims to explore the linkages between sustainable development, the protection of the environment, climate change and the branches of international law that protect the rights of the most vulnerable. It also complements our training course on protecting human rights and the environment.
Ishan Khosla
Ravi Khemka
News
Geneva Academy
Sixteen diplomats from fifteen Small Island Developing States and Least Developed Countries participated in a two-day Practical Training on Human Rights Council Procedures.
News
Adobe
Our new series of Research Briefs examine the impact of digital disinformation and potential solutions for its regulation
Event
LATSIS Symposium
This interactive, two-part workshop will explore how modern data-science tools – including machine learning and AI – can be leveraged to support the United Nations in promoting and protecting human rights.
Event
LATSIS Symposium
This Human Rights Conversation will explore how AI is being used by human rights institutions to enhance the efficiency, scope, and impact of monitoring and implementation frameworks.
Training
Adobe
This training course, specifically designed for staff of city and regional governments, will explore the means and mechanisms through which local and regional governments can interact with and integrate the recommendations of international human rights bodies in their concrete work at the local level.
Training
ICRC
Participants in this training course will gain practical insights into UN human rights mechanisms and their role in environmental protection and learn about how to address the interplay between international human rights and environmental law, and explore environmental litigation paths.
Project
Paolo Margari
This research aims at mainstreaming the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment and the protection it affords in the work of the UN Human Rights Council, its Special Procedures and Universal Periodic Review, as well as in the work of the UN General Assembly and UN treaty bodies.
Project
Olivier Chamard / Geneva Academy
The Treaty Body Members’ Platform connects experts in UN treaty bodies with each other as well as with Geneva-based practitioners, academics and diplomats to share expertise, exchange views on topical questions and develop synergies.
Publication
