housing poverty pollution

Now Recognized by the UN:

The Human Right to Live in a Clean and Healthy Environment

For the first time in its history, the United Nations has recognized that everyone, everywhere, has the right to live in a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. Resolutions from the Human Rights Council in 2021 and the General Assembly in 2022 add this fundamental human right to the library of internationally recognized rights. As humanity confronts an unprecedented planetary crisis, it is my genuine hope that the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment will serve as a catalyst for systemic and transformative changes to produce a just and sustainable future in harmony with nature.

 

David Boyd with Catalina and Shara UN SR
David Boyd with Ambassador Chan UN SR
David Boyd with Ambassador Chan UN SR

Sustainable Environment as a Human Right

All human beings depend on the environment in which we live.  A safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment is integral to the full enjoyment of a wide range of human rights, including the rights to life, health, food, water and sanitation.  Without a healthy environment, we are unable to fulfil our aspirations or even live at a level commensurate with minimum standards of human dignity.  At the same time, protecting human rights helps to protect the environment.  When people are able to learn about, and participate in, the decisions that affect them, they can help to ensure that those decisions respect their need for a sustainable environment. 

 

Learn about the UN Mandate

 

Right to a Healthy Environment

map that shows countries that have regulations for right to healthy environment created by Nawon Song

Environmental Impacts on Health

brochure on effects of environment on death by who

This brochure by the World Health Organizations gives a short overview of the impacts of the environment on human health. It states the major causes of death and describes how the environment affects people and whose health is impacted the most.

 

View Brochure as PDF

Pollution as Environmental Cause of Death #1

Nearly 92 percent of pollution-related deaths occur in low-income and middle-income countries. Children face the highest risks because small exposures to chemicals in utero and in early childhood can result in lifelong disease, disability, premature death, as well as reduced learning and earning potential.

 

View Infographic Here

infographic on pollution on death by icahn school of medicine mount sinai