CYIL vol. 12 (2021)

CYIL 12 (2021) THE (MISSING) RIGHT TO A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT IN INTERNATIONAL HUMAN … Comment no. 36 (2018) 6 , in which the Committee interprets the right to life, contains references to environmental threats. In the same year the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which contains a number of health-related provisions, was also adopted. Article 12 of the Covenant states: ‘ (1) The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health .’ In this connection, interpretation standards included in General Comments no. 12 (right to adequate food), 15 (right to water) and 14 (right to the highest attainable standard of health) should be highlighted, the latter stressing environmental conditions for a healthy life. 7 In addition, the Convention on the Rights of the Child also included a relevant reference in the Article 24 para. 2 (c) which provides for an obligation for States Parties to take appropriate measures to combat disease and malnutrition, taking into consideration the dangers and risks of environmental pollution. Moreover, Article 29 para. 1 (e) states that the education of the child should be directed towards the development of respect for the natural environment. Apart from human rights violations, damaging the environment in its most severe form during an armed conflict could amount to a war crime. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in Article 8 para. 2 (b) (iv) defines this environmental crime as ‘ intentionally launching an attack in the knowledge that such attack will cause […] widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural environment which would be clearly excessive in relation to the concrete and direct overall military advantage anticipated .’ Although there is no other explicit provision of an environmental crime in the Rome Statute, one can imagine a conduct that would also fulfil elements of another crime. For example, relocation of villages for purposes of deforestation could potentially qualify as deportation or forcible transfer of population according to Article 7 para. 1 (d) defining crimes against humanity. 2.2 Other instruments With respect to soft law instruments, the need for a healthy environment has been recognized in a 1972 Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, also known as the Stockholm Declaration, which contains a number of environmental principles. The United Nations also places environmental concerns high on its agenda. In 1988 it established the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, also known as IPCC, which produces scientific reports and recommendations. Its work also contributes to activities based on the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol (1997) as well as the Paris Agreement (2015), both of which are setting goals for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, the UN Human Rights Council established a mandate of a Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment in 2012. 8 In 6 See mainly para. 62 of the respective general comment. 7 The general comments are available online accessed 1 August 2021. 8 In fact, in 2012 a mandate of an Independent Expert on Human Rights and the Environment was created and extended as a Special Rapporteur in 2015. See the ‘Mapping report’ of the Independent Expert, HRC Res. A/HRC/25/53 of 2013 . For an overview of the activities, see HEINÄMÄKI, Leena. Human Rights and the Environment. Yearbook of International Environmental Law , vol. 26, no. 1, 2015, pp. 139–145. For outcomes up to today, see the Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment accessed 1 August 2021.

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