The link between human rights and environmental protection has become increasingly clear in recent years.
Environmental damage is often worse in countries and in areas with human rights abuses.
Where human rights are weak, civil society groups are not able to raise environmental concerns effectively. Rights of association, access to justice, access to information and freedom of expression, are critical for the success of a country's environmental and human rights movements. Human rights and environmental abuses take place at different levels. Activities of private corporations are increasingly contributing to human rights violations and environmental degradation. For instance, corporations often expel local peoples from their lands, fail to implement pollution control measures, suppress local activists who question the impacts of their activities, or produce and export chemicals banned in their own country that they know will cause serious health problems in the country of import.