The challenges posed by the triple planetary climate change crisis, biodiversity loss, and pollution also present a crisis for human rights. Indeed, David Boyd, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment, has observed that “[a]ll human beings depend on the environment in which we live. A safe, clean, healthy, and sustainable environment is integral to fully enjoying a wide range of human rights, including the rights to life, health, food, water, and sanitation. Without a healthy environment, we are unable to fulfill our aspirations. We may not have access to even the minimum standards of human dignity.”

To stay relevant in the 21st century, the Council of Europe, as the leading organization for human rights protection in Europe, must contribute to addressing these crises. Leadership by the Council of Europe can be expected to reap benefits not only within Europe but also beyond.

Decades of experience make clear that recognition of the right to a healthy environment serves as a catalyst for a number of benefits, including stronger environmental laws and policies, improved implementation and enforcement of those laws and policies, increased public participation in environmental decision-making, and reduced environmental injustices. More importantly, time and time again, recognition of the right to a healthy environment has been shown to contribute to improved environmental performance, including cleaner air, enhanced access to safe drinking water, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. It has positive effects on populations in vulnerable situations, including women and girls, persons subject to poverty, Indigenous Peoples, older persons, persons with disabilities, and minorities.  It is particularly important for children who have taken a lead in advocating for the protection of the environment.

The right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment has been recognised by the UN Human Rights Council in Resolution 48/13 of 2021 and the UN General Assembly in Resolution A/76/300 of 2022. At the national level, at least 161 states worldwide recognize the right in law through constitutions, legislation, court decisions or ratification of regional treaties including this right. However, there is no instrument explicitly or autonomously guaranteeing this right within the Council of Europe system.  Neither the European Convention on Human Rights nor the European Social Charter currently provides a clear recognition of the right to a healthy environment. 

The European Convention on Human Rights is the core instrument for the protection of human rights in Europe.  It establishes one of the strongest systems for the protection and enforcement of human rights guarantees anywhere in the world, overseen by the European Court of Human Rights, which issues binding judgments. A Protocol to include the right to a healthy environment within the Convention would strengthen the Court’s capacity to protect the right, putting it on the same level as with other Convention rights. Equally importantly, it would send a powerful message that at a moment of environmental crisis, the Council of Europe takes the right to a healthy environment seriously. It would act as a powerful catalyst across the Council of Europe region for the rapid, systemic, and transformative changes necessary to protect a habitable and sustainable environment. Further, it would ensure a level playing field among the Council of Europe member states, and prevent backsliding where progress has already been made domestically. 

The urgency of global environmental challenges, including pollution, biodiversity loss, and climate change, requires that nations collectively pursue ambitious and coordinated measures. By explicitly recognising the right for a healthy environment in an additional Protocol to the Convention, the Council of Europe would be acting as a beacon to countries in Europe and beyond. Furthermore, the explicit recognition of the right to a healthy environment by the Council of Europe would strengthen its legitimacy as a regional organization committed to safeguarding and upholding human rights, the rule of law, and democracy. This recognition would bolster the capacity of the Council of Europe and its member states to respond effectively to the challenges posed by the triple planetary crisis.