12.1.2022
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
C 15/117 Wednesday 19 May 2021
5.
Recalls the legal obligation to respect the right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment which is, among other things, a condition for sustainable economic activities which contribute to the well-being and livelihoods of individuals and communities; recalls that international human rights law provides legal remedies to redress the damage caused by climate change to individuals, indigenous communities and environmental human rights defenders, to implement measures to combat climate change and to hold states, businesses and individuals accountable for their actions which impact climate change and human rights; in this respect, calls on the EU to make the fight against impunity one of its key priorities by creating instruments which allow for the full, effective and sustained implementation of human rights and environmental laws and their enforcement;
6.
Calls on the Commission to ensure that the concrete commitments on human rights, environment and climate change already established in the EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy 2020-2024 are effectively implemented and monitored, and that a gender perspective is included in the plan’s implementation;
7.
Supports the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment to push for global recognition of the right to live in a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment as a human right; calls on the Union and the Member States to support, at the next UN General Assembly, the global recognition of this right; considers that this recognition should serve as a catalyst for stronger environmental policies, improved law enforcement, public participation in environmental decision-making, access to information and justice and better outcomes for people and planet;
8.
Urges the Commission to continue to monitor the situation of human rights and climate change and to assess the progress in integrating and mainstreaming human rights into all aspects of climate action at domestic and international level in close cooperation with the UN Human Rights Council / UN High Commissioner on Human Rights; calls for the Union, in this regard, to take action to introduce the right to a safe and healthy environment in the Charter and to fully comply with Article 37 thereof; stresses, in this regard, the importance of close cooperation with states and all relevant institutional actors involved in ensuring the proper implementation of human rights and environmental provisions;
9.
Stresses that all people should be granted the fundamental right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment and to a stable climate, without discrimination, and that this right must be delivered through ambitious policies and must be fully enforceable through the justice system at all levels;
10.
Believes that integrating the human right to a healthy environment in key environmental agreements and processes is critical to a holistic response to COVID-19 that includes a reconceptualisation of the relationship between people and nature that will reduce risks and prevent future harm from environmental degradation;
11.
Encourages the EU and its Member States to take a bold initiative with the active support of the EU Special Representative for Human Rights to fight impunity for the perpetrators of environmental crimes at global level and to pave the way within the International Criminal Court (ICC) towards new negotiations between the parties with a view to recognising ‘ecocide’ as an international crime under the Rome Statute; calls on the Commission and the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (VP/HR) to establish a programme to build the capacity of national jurisdictions of Member States in these fields;
12.
Calls for the Union and its Member States to regularly assess how the external dimension of the European Green Deal can best contribute to a holistic and human rights-based approach with regards to climate action and biodiversity loss; calls for the EU to leverage the broad range of external policies, tools and political and financial instruments at its disposal to implement the European Green Deal; calls for the EU to review its climate finance mechanisms and propose to amend them where appropriate, in order to ensure full respect for human rights and to establish strong safeguards for this purpose; calls for the establishment of climate focal points within the relevant services of the Commission and the European External Action Service (EEAS), whose tasks would include climate-proofing all of the EU’s external dealings; calls for transparent and informative communication on these issues in EU development cooperation programmes with third countries;