Human Rights Day is celebrated every year on December 10th – the anniversary of the day the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948.
In July 2022, the UNGA declared that everyone on the planet has a right to a healthy environment. The resolution states “climate change and environmental degradation were some of the most pressing threats to humanity’s future”.
While not legally binding, it called on the 193 UN Member States to step up efforts to ensure their people have access to a “clean, healthy and sustainable environment.” Governments have an obligation to promote, protect and fulfill this right and the declaration can be used as a tool to pressure governments and private companies to protect or improve the environment.
“This resolution sends a message that nobody can take nature, clean air and water, or a stable climate away from us – at least, not without a fight,”. Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
The Centre for Ecocities is committed to supporting cities on their quest to ensure a healthy environment for all people, everywhere. An ecocity ensures well being for its residents in a way that does not compromise the well being of others and the planet as a whole. This means making sure that everyone, everywhere has access to a healthy environment and that no one is falling short on life’s essentials, like food, housing, and healthcare. As the UNEP Executive Director points out, declaring access to healthy environment as a universal human right will help efforts to protect nature, clean air, water, and a stable climate – all of which are required for ecocities.
Despite covering only 3% of total land surface, urban areas are now home to more than half of the global population and each city requires land and water resources hundreds of times larger than its physical area. However, the concentration of people in cities also provides huge opportunities to protect the health of local and global ecosystems. Cities provide efficiencies of scale which makes key services more cost effective and resource efficient, like low carbon transportation, such as public transit, and sharing economy opportunities, like car and bicycle sharing. Circular economy initiatives that reduce pollution and waste are easier to implement where complementary organizations are in close proximity, such as where one business’ waste can become anothers resource.
Many of the world’s cities are located in biologically diverse areas, including important shorelines, estuaries and other important ecosystems. So bringing nature back into urban environments – whether through parks, green infrastructure, or other natural capital – creates many co-benefits, such as recreation, air and water quality improvements, and resilience to climate change impacts like fire and flood. Ecocities not only need healthy environments but can help create them too.
Learn more about the right to a healthy environment
Human rights 101
In recognition of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (December 3) and Human Rights Day the BCIT Respect, Diversity and Inclusion office has released a new free online course on Human Rights.
We are all responsible for contributing towards a more equitable society free of harassment and discrimination. Human Rights 101 offers learning on:
- Human rights legislation in Canada,
- The rights and responsibilities you have under it, and
- The challenges of human rights on a global scale.