ABSTRACT
The voting patterns on the Right to a Healthy Environment in the 2021 United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and 2022 United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) demonstrate growing international solidarity for climate justice. Against a backdrop of diminishing political will among states for climate action and ambition, a political-legal analysis of the recognition of this “new” human right reveals how it establishes normative standards for climate futures. This chapter, therefore, argues that the right to a healthy environment strengthens climate justice, supporting bold action for transformative economic, social, and environmental policies protecting both people and nature. The chapter is structured in three parts. First, I examine the historical development of the Right to a Healthy Environment and the interplay of international law and politics over 50 years, from the 1972 Stockholm Declaration to the 2022 UNGA recognition. Second, I analyse how the Global North–South voting patterns in the 48th Session of the UNHRC in 2021 and the 76th Session of UNGA in 2022 reflect increasing international solidarity for climate action. Finally, I conclude by exploring how “bold action,” as emphasised by former High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms. Michelle Bachelet, is essential for representing the Global South (or the third world) and its marginalised and oppressed groups in international legal frameworks.
