“Open discussion on the human rights obligations related to environmental protection”
Thursday 13th March 2014, 9.00-10.30 AM, Room VIII
The permanent missions of Costa Rica, Switzerland, Slovenia and the Maldives with the cooperation of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the United Nations Environment Programme will hold a public side event which aims to further discuss the mapping report submitted by the Independent Expert on human rights and the environment, Professor John Knox, as well as related work undertaken by CIEL’s Marcos Orellana on behalf of UNEP.
The Independent Expert’s report maps human rights obligations relating to the environment on the basis of an extensive review of global and regional sources, including procedural obligations, substantive obligations, and obligations specific to members of groups particularly vulnerable to environmental harm. The side event aims to promote an exchange of views and dialogue on the conclusions and recommendations of the Independent Expert’s findings.
The advance version of the UNEP Human Rights and Environment Compendium will be launched at side-event. The Compendium takes stock of the normative and jurisprudential developments in the field of human rights and the environment. It describes international instruments that relate to human rights and the environment, such as multilateral environmental agreements, international human rights treaties, and international resolutions and declarations. It also includes summaries of decisions rendered by the human rights supervisory mechanisms in Africa, Europe and the Americas, as well as the Human Rights Committee, the International Court of Justice and the World Bank’s Inspection Panel. The objective of the publication is to identify and promote good practices relating to the use of human rights obligations and commitments to inform, support and strengthen environmental policy making, especially in the areas of environmental protection and management.