Debate: The Right to a Healthy Environment
Date: TUESDAY, 19 OCTOBER 2021
Speaker: Anže Logar
Language: EN

The European Union fully supported the resolution presented at the 48th Session of the UN Human Rights Council this month. The resolution, proposed by a core group of countries, including Slovenia, recognised for the first time that having a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is indeed a human right. This is in line with what this Parliament called for in October 2020.  In this resolution, the Human Rights Council called on states to work together and with other partners to implement this newly recognised right. The issue will now go to the UN General Assembly for further consideration.  In view of the important upcoming UN conferences – the COP15 on biodiversity that started last week in Kunming, and the COP26 in Glasgow, scheduled for next month – the European Union will continue to work with the rest of the world to protect the climate and nature. Regarding biodiversity, allow me to also welcome the recent Kunming Declaration, ‘Ecological Civilization: Building a Shared Future for all Life on Earth’, from the high-level segment of COP15, including on behalf of the European Union. It contains, inter alia, the commitment to actively enhance the global environmental legal framework and strengthen environmental law at national level to protect biodiversity and combat its illegal use, and to consider, respect and promote human rights when taking action to protect biodiversity.  The EU has its own Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, which is a comprehensive, ambitious and long-term plan to protect and restore the natural environment and reverse ecosystem degradation. The strategy aims to put Europe’s biodiversity on the road to recovery by 2030, showing that the EU is ready to take the lead in tackling global biodiversity issues.  As far as environmental protection legislation goes, the Council looks forward to the Commission’s proposal for a revision of the Environmental Crime Directive. The review of this directive will contribute to the implementation of the goals of the European Green Deal and the Biodiversity Strategy, which both stressed the need to strengthen efforts to combat environmental crime. In this context, it is particularly important that the future directive fully respects and contributes to the preservation of the rights and principles set out in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, notably, the fundamental rights enshrined in Article 37 on environmental protection in accordance with the principle of sustainable development. The Council is looking forward to this upcoming proposal and will start work on it as soon as it is on the table.  The Council is also actively examining the Commission’s proposal from last April for a Corporate Sustainable Reporting Directive, which is part of the European Green Deal. For the Presidency, the file is a priority. We are working on establishing a position in order to start negotiations between the co-legislators as soon as possible. Finally, I would like to stress our obligation to respect, protect and promote human rights, including in all actions undertaken to address environmental challenges, and to take measures to protect the rights of all, as recognised in different international instruments. This is particularly true for the most vulnerable segments of the population that are more acutely impacted by environmental harm.