Geneva: The UN Human Rights Council on Friday recognizes access to a clean and healthy environment as a fundamental right, officially increasing its weight to global battles against climate change and its destructive consequences.
Voting passed with extraordinary support, despite leading criticism from several countries, especially the United States and the United Kingdom.
Resolution, first discussed in the 1990s, did not bind legally but had the potential to form global standards.
Lawyers involved in climate litigation say it can help them build arguments in cases involving the environment and human rights.
“It has the potential that changes life in the world where the global environmental crisis causes more than nine million early deaths every year,” said David Boyd, a UN Special Reportman on Human Rights and the Environment, which said the decision was “historic breakthrough”.
Text, proposed by Costa Rica, Maldives, Morocco, Slovenia and Switzerland, authorized with 43 vote supporting and 4 abstentions from Russia, India, China and Japan, encouraged rare applause in the Geneva forum.
England, which is a criticism of the proposal in intense negotiations recently, choosing for the sake of surprises, last minute steps.
The ambassador for the United Nations in Geneva, Rita France, said that England chose ‘yes’ because he shared supporting ambitions to overcome climate change but added that countries would not be bound to the provisions of the resolution.
The United States did not choose because at this time not members of the 47 members.
The Costa Rica Ambassador, Catalina Devandas Aguilar, said the decision would “send a strong message to communities around the world struggling with climate difficulties that they were not alone”.
Critics have caused various objections, say the council is not the appropriate forum and citing legal issues.
Environmental Defenders said the critical attitude of England had previously underestimated his promises ahead of the global climate conference, this was a hosting in Glasgow next month.
John Knox, former RAPPOREUR Special U.N., said before the vote that those who had criticized the resolution “on the wrong history side”.
The World Health Organization estimates that around 13.7 million deaths a year, or around 24.3% of the total global, caused by environmental risks such as air pollution and exposure to chemicals.
Another proposal led by the Marshall Islands to create a new special reporter about climate change was also approved by the Board on Friday.