A/HRC/RES/48/13

United Nations

General AssemblyDistr.: General18 October 2021
Original: English

Human Rights Council
Forty-eighth session
13 September–11 October 2021
Agenda item 3
Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil,
political, economic, social and cultural rights,
including the right to development

Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council
on 8 October 2021
48/13.

The human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment
The Human Rights Council,
Guided by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations,Reaffirming the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Vienna Declaration
and Programme of Action, and recalling the Declaration on the Right to Development, theDeclaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (the StockholmDeclaration), the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, relevant international
human rights treaties and other relevant regional human rights instruments,
Reaffirming also that all human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent andinterrelated,
Recalling General Assembly resolution 70/1 of 25 September 2015, entitled“Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, in which theAssembly adopted a comprehensive, far-reaching and people-centred set of universal andtransformative Sustainable Development Goals and targets,
Recalling also States’ obligations and commitments under multilateral environmental
instruments and agreements, including on climate change, and the outcome of the United
Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June
2012, and its outcome document entitled “The future we want”,1 which reaffirmed theprinciples of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development,
Recalling further all its resolutions on human rights and the environment, the mostrecent of which are resolutions 45/17 of 6 October 2020, 45/30 of 7 October 2020 and 46/7of 23 March 2021, and relevant resolutions of the General Assembly,
Recognizing that sustainable development, in its three dimensions (social, economicand environmental), and the protection of the environment, including ecosystems, contributeto and promote human well-being and the enjoyment of human rights, including the rights tolife, to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, to an
adequate standard of living, to adequate food, to housing, to safe drinking water andsanitation and to participation in cultural life, for present and future generations,1

General Assembly resolution 66/288, annex.

GE.21-14965(E)A/HRC/RES/48/13

Reaffirming the importance of international cooperation, on the basis of mutual
respect, in full compliance with the principles and purposes of the Charter, with full respect
for the sovereignty of States while taking into account national priorities,
Recognizing that, conversely, the impact of climate change, the unsustainable
management and use of natural resources, the pollution of air, land and water, the unsoundmanagement of chemicals and waste, the resulting loss of biodiversity and the decline inservices provided by ecosystems interfere with the enjoyment of a clean, healthy andsustainable environment, and that environmental damage has negative implications, both
direct and indirect, for the effective enjoyment of all human rights,
Recognizing also that, while the human rights implications of environmental damage
are felt by individuals and communities around the world, the consequences are felt mostacutely by those segments of the population that are already in vulnerable situations,
including indigenous peoples, older persons, persons with disabilities, and women and girls,Recognizing further that environmental degradation, climate change andunsustainable development constitute some of the most pressing and serious threats to theability of present and future generations to enjoy human rights, including the right to life,
Recognizing that the exercise of human rights, including the rights to seek, receive
and impart information, to participate effectively in the conduct of government and publicaffairs and in environmental decision-making and to an effective remedy, is vital to theprotection of a clean, healthy and sustainable environment,
Reaffirming that States have the obligation to respect, protect and promote humanrights, including in all actions undertaken to address environmental challenges, and to takemeasures to protect the rights of all, as recognized in different international instruments andreflected in the framework principles on human rights and the environment, prepared by theSpecial Rapporteur on the issue of human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of asafe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment,2 and that additional measures should betaken for those who are particularly vulnerable to environmental harm,
Recalling the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which underscore
the responsibility of all business enterprises to respect human rights, including the rights tolife, liberty and security of human rights defenders working in environmental matters,
referred to as environmental human rights defenders,Acknowledging the importance of a clean, healthy and sustainable environment as
critical to the enjoyment of all human rights,
Recalling all of the reports of the Special Rapporteur (formerly the IndependentExpert) on the issue of human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean,healthy and sustainable environment,3Noting that more than 155 States have recognized some form of a right to a healthy
environment in, inter alia, international agreements or their national constitutions, legislationor policies,
Noting also “The highest aspiration: a call to action for human rights”, which theSecretary-General presented to the Human Rights Council on 24 February 2020 and in which,inter alia, he called upon the United Nations to increase support to Member States at the fieldlevel for laws and policies that regulated and promoted the right to a safe, clean, healthy andsustainable environment, and for effective individual access to justice and effective remedies
for environment-related concerns,
Noting further the joint statement to the Human Rights Council on 9 March 2021 by
15 United Nations entities, including the United Nations Environment Programme, the Officeof the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations
Development Programme, the International Labour Organization, the United Nations Entity

232

A/HRC/37/59, annex.
A/73/188, A/74/161, A/75/161, A/76/179, A/HRC/22/43 A/HRC/25/53, A/HRC/28/61,A/HRC/31/52, A/HRC/31/53, A/HRC/34/49, A/HRC/37/58, A/HRC/37/59, A/HRC/40/55,A/HRC/43/53 A/HRC/43/54 and A/HRC/46/28.

A/HRC/RES/48/13

for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund andthe World Health Organization, and the letter dated 10 September 2020 and signed by morethan 1,100 civil society, child, youth and indigenous peoples’ organizations, urgently callingfor global recognition, implementation and protection of the human right to a safe, clean,healthy and sustainable environment,
1.
Recognizes the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment as ahuman right that is important for the enjoyment of human rights;
2.
Notes that the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is related
to other rights and existing international law;3.
Affirms that the promotion of the human right to a clean, healthy andsustainable environment requires the full implementation of the multilateral environmental
agreements under the principles of international environmental law;4.

Encourages States:(a)To build capacities for the efforts to protect the environment in order to fulfil
their human rights obligations and commitments, and to enhance cooperation with otherStates, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the rest of
the United Nations system and other relevant international and regional organizations,
agencies, convention secretariats and programmes, and relevant non-State stakeholders,
including civil society, national human rights institutions and business, on theimplementation of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, in accordancewith their respective mandates;(b)
To continue to share good practices in fulfilling human rights obligations
relating to the enjoyment of a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, including by
exchanging knowledge and ideas, building synergies between the protection of human rights
and the protection of the environment, bearing in mind an integrated and multisectoral
approach and considering that efforts to protect the environment must fully respect otherhuman rights obligations, including those related to gender equality;(c)
To adopt policies for the enjoyment of the right to a clean, healthy andsustainable environment as appropriate, including with respect to biodiversity andecosystems;(d)To continue to take into account human rights obligations and commitments
relating to the enjoyment of a clean, healthy and sustainable environment in theimplementation of and follow-up to the Sustainable Development Goals, bearing in mind theintegrated and multisectoral nature of the latter;
5.

Invites the General Assembly to consider the matter;6.

Decides to remain seized of the matter.
43rd meeting
8 October 2021

[Adopted by a recorded vote of 43 to 0, with 4 abstentions. The voting was as follows:
In favour:
Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bolivia(Plurinational State of), Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte
d’Ivoire, Cuba, Czechia, Denmark, Eritrea, Fiji, France, Gabon, Germany,Indonesia, Italy, Libya, Malawi, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mexico,Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Republic ofKorea, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Ukraine, United Kingdom of GreatBritain and Northern Ireland, Uruguay, Uzbekistan and Venezuela (Bolivarian
Republic of)
Abstaining:
China, India, Japan and Russian Federation]3