Environmental Protection through the Weapon of Human Rights

People around the world increasingly experience the devastating effects of environmental crises from extreme weather, food insecurity, and health issues linked to water and air pollution, to the loss of land, biodiversity, and livelihoods. Inadequate regulation and enforcement of environmentally distructive sectors of the economy – including agricultural commodities, mining, and heavily polluting fossil- fuel industries drives human rights violations. Governments still fall short of urgent and ambitious actions to keep global warming below 1.5 degree Celsius and prevent further devastation to the global environment. The primary victims of environmental harm are often impoverished and marginalized communities with limited opportunity to meaningfully participate in decision- making and public debate on environmental issues, and have little access to independent courts to achieve accountability and redress. Activists and ordinary citizens defending their rights to land and the environment face intimidation, legal harassment and deadly violence. In recent years, there has been a growing trend in people and organisations also using human rights to help tackle environmental problems. Across the world in many environment issues were ruled out by applying concepts such as the right to life, free speech and family life to a wide range of issues including pollution, man-made or natural disasters and access to environmental information. The European Convention on Human Rights has also been used by campaigners at the national level to encourage governments to take further steps to tackle climate change and the degradation of the natural environment.