ABSTRACT
Human rights are inherent to everyone irrespective of, among others, race, sex, colour, religion, or ethnic origin. Human rights agreements bind states to respect, protect, and fulfil human rights, including the rights of communities vulnerable to land grabbing in Africa. The chapter analyses the environmental and human rights impacts of large-scale land investments in Africa, which can hinder the full enjoyment of the human right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. Additionally, it critically evaluates the role of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Charter) in protecting the rights of vulnerable African communities. The chapter highlights the need to focus on underexploited human rights norms, particularly those codified in the African Charter, as a mechanism to adequately guarantee the human right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment in vulnerable African communities. The chapter argues that although state sovereignty leaves governments with extensive discretion regarding implementing fundamental human rights and freedoms, the African Charter has opened land grabbing to serious scrutiny. The chapter demonstrates the vast potential of human rights law in a critical area of sustainable development policy: the right to a healthy environment.
