CYIL vol. 15 (2024)

CYIL 15 ȍ2024Ȏ LINKING HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE ENVIRONMENT … importance and protection of more immediate human rights concerns, such as ending genocide or torture. Environmental lawyers, on the other hand, deny the human rights lawyers view and withhold that human rights focus for environmental law will in the end reduce all environmental values and focus on the protection of the environment, to an instrumental use for humanity so that the quality of human life can be advanced (human-centered approach). 18 D. Shelton is of yet another view. She sees human rights and environmental protection as: […] each representing diff erent , but overlapping , social values. The two fields share a core of common interests and objectives , although obviously not all human rights violations are necessarily linked to environmental degradation. Likewise, environmental issues cannot always be addressed effectively within the human rights framework, and any attempt to force all such issues into a human rights rubric may fundamentally distort the concept of human rights. This approach recognizes the potential conflicts between environmental protection and human rights, but also the contribution to each field can make to achieve their common objectives . 19 [Emphasis added] Shelton therefore approaches these two issues with caution. These two rights, in her opinion, should not be combined unless necessary. Nevertheless, they should not be seen as distinct matters whereas they sometimes share common interests and objectives and can thus attain more desirable conclusions in human rights matters with respect to the environment, and vice versa. Shelton further observes that: ‘humans are not separable members of the universe. Rather, humans are interlinked and interdependent participants [in the natural world] …’ 20 Hence, it is obvious that once the misleading idea of human separation from nature is abandoned, it becomes clear that a human rights approach is able of encompassing a high degree of environmental protection. 21 Perhaps, these differentiated views or ideas are one of the reasons for this gradual development in the relationship between human rights and the environment and thus the recognition of one explicit human right to a healthy environment. 3.1 International development and Agreements As previously mentioned, environmental rights were addressed for the first time in 1972 at the UN Conference on the Human Environment, which produced the Stockholm Declaration. It outlines previous efforts around environmental rights as well as focusing on the pressing need for a global ecological policy. In addition, the Stockholm Declaration lays down the basis for an integrated international approach to environmental protection. 22 18 COLLINS, Lynda: Are We There Yet? The Right to Environment in International and European Law. McGill International Journal of Sustainable Development Law and Policy , Vol. 3 (2), 2007, p. 124. ATAPATTU, Sumudu: The Public Health Impact, p. 296. 19 SHELTON, Dinah: Human Rights, Environmental Rights, and the Right to Environment. Stanford Journal of International Law , Vol. 28, 1991, p. 105. 20 SHELTON, Dinah: Human Rights and Environmental Rights, p. 110. 21 COLLINS, Lynda: op. cit ., p. 124. 22 HODKOVÁ, Iveta: Is There a Right to a Healthy Environment in the International Legal Order? Connecticut Journal of International Law , Vol. 7 (1), 1991 , p. 66. 3. Evolution of the Right to Environment

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