Emergence of a human right to a healthy environment

This chapter analyses the evolution of a human right to a healthy environment, including the institutional framework of human rights. It explores how environmental rights have been articulated at the international level and the jurisprudential bases for them. Eleven treaty-based mechanisms exist under international human rights law. Treaty-based bodies adopt several mechanisms to address the issues covered under their treaties: submission of country reports; concluding observations on country reports; and an individual complaints procedure if the treaty in question provides for that. The United Nations (UN) Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities of the UN Commission on Human Rights appointed a Special Rapporteur in 1990 to study the relationship between human rights and the environment. The Human Rights Council, by resolution 19/10, established the mandate for an Independent Expert on Human Rights and the Environment in March 2012. It studies the human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy, and sustainable environment.