CYIL vol. 15 (2024)

PETRA BAUMRUK Even though it is not a formal treaty and thus does not impose binding legal obligations on states, it is a symbol for a common consensus on the major issues of environmental protection. As one scholar noted, the Stockholm Declaration constitutes: ‘a manifesto, expressed in the form of an ethnic code, intended to govern and influence future action and programs, both at the national and international levels.’ 23 In 1989, the decision was made to hold the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) also known as the Earth Summit, in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. 24 However, the Earth Summit was, to many, a failure in addressing an explicit right to a healthy environment. 25 In the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (the Rio Declaration) references are made to some form of a right such as: ‘human beings are at the center of concerns for sustainable development. They are entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature.’ 26 Certainly, a link between a healthy life and the environment has been made, but the explicit usage of a rights language seems to have been avoided. Furthermore, Agenda 21, adopted at the Rio Conference, devotes a chapter to the issues of human health. Noting that sound development is not possible without a healthy population , it points out in this respect that: ‘the linkage of health, environmental and socio-economic improvements require intersectoral efforts.’ 27 Apart from this, the Rio Declaration is considered important because it embodies several environmental procedural rights. Therefore, the Earth Summit is said to have formulated the link between human rights and environmental protection mainly in procedural terms . 28 It can be stated that the period between these two major conferences, the Stockholm Conference in 1972, on one hand, and the Conference in Rio in 1992, on the other, is a progressive period. It is a period in which the realization started to evolve at the international level with respect to the human right to a healthy environment. The attempts that were made to address this right have at least set the agenda for future discussions . T he World Charter for Nature in 1982 (Charter for Nature) is an important part of the environmental law evolution. As such, it does not embody rights of human beings, on the contrary, it endorses the right of every form of life , ‘[…] and warrants respect regardless of its worth to man.’ 29 This instrument is unique whereas it is the first and only of its kind that 23 Ibid., p. 67. 24 WEISSBRODT, David and DE LA VEGA, Connie: International Human Rights Law: an introduction . Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010, p. 191. 25 MÜLLEROVÁ, Hana: Aktuální otázky zakotvení lidského práva na životní prostředí v mezinárodním právu. [Current issues of enshrining the human right to the environment in international law] In DAMOHORSKÝ, Milan (ed.): Lidská práva, odpovědnost a ochrana životního prostředí . [Human rights, responsibility and environmental protection] AUC Iuridica: 3/ 2011. Praha: Univerzita Karlova v Praze, Nakladatelství Karolinum, 2012, p. 27. 26 Rio Declaratrion, Principle 1. Available online at: http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?d ocumentid=78&articleid=1163 (accessed 3 December 2022). 27 The main concern of Agenda 21 is to meet the basic need of human beings, such as health preservation, decent housing, and education. See BOYLE, Alan E.: The Role of International Human Rights Law, p. 49. In addition, the Plan of Implementation adopted at the World Summit in Johannesburg on Sustainable Development, in 2002, also emphasizes the importance of public health. Available online at: http://www.johannesburgsummit. org/html/basic_info/basicinfo.html (accessed 4 December 2022). 28 MÜLLEROVÁ, Hana: Aktuální otázky zakotvení lidského práva na životní prostředí v mezinárodním právu. [Current issues of enshrining the human right to the environment in international law] p. 27. 29 United Nations General Assembly resolution: World Charter for Nature. 28 October 1982, A/RES/37/7. Available online at: http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/45/a45r094.htm (accessed 16 October 2022).

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