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The Human Right to a Healthy Environment, edited by John H. Knox and Ramin Pejan Cambridge University Press, 2018, 290 pp, £64.99 hb, £22.99 pb, $24 e-bk ISBN 9781108421195 hb, 9781108431583 pb, 9781108373074 e-bk

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The Human Right to a Healthy Environment, edited by John H. Knox and Ramin Pejan Cambridge University Press, 2018, 290 pp, £64.99 hb, £22.99 pb, $24 e-bk ISBN 9781108421195 hb, 9781108431583 pb, 9781108373074 e-bk

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2019

Samvel Varvastian
Samvel Varvastian*
Affiliation:
School of Law and Politics, Cardiff University, Cardiff (United Kingdom)
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Type
Book Reviews
Information
Transnational Environmental Law , Volume 8 , Issue 2 , July 2019 , pp. 382 - 387
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

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References

1 In 2012, the UN Human Rights Council established a mandate on human rights and the environment to study the human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment, and to promote best practices relating to the use of human rights in environmental policy making. Knox served as the Independent Expert (2012–15) and later as the Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment (2015–18). In 2018, David Boyd was appointed as the new UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment. See UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment, ‘UN Mandate’, 2018, available at: http://www.srenvironment.org/un-mandate.

2 Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (Stockholm Declaration), UN Doc. A/Conf.48/14/Rev. 1(1973), 16 Jun. 1972, available at: http://www.unep.org/documents.multilingual/default.asp?documentid=97&articleid=1503. According to Principle 1 of the Declaration, ‘[m]an has the fundamental right to freedom, equality and adequate conditions of life, in an environment of a quality that permits a life of dignity and well-being, and he bears a solemn responsibility to protect and improve the environment for present and future generations’.

3 See the discussion of the Ogiek case (African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights v. Republic of Kenya, Appl. No. 006/2012, Judgment, 26 May 2017, pp. 77–83, available at: http://www.african-court.org/en/index.php/56-pending-cases-details/864-app-no-006-2012-african-commission-on-human-and-peoples-rights-v-republic-of-kenya-details).

4 Rome (Italy), 4 Nov. 1950, in force 3 Sept. 1953, available at: http://www.echr.coe.int/pages/home.aspx?p=basictexts.

5 In ECtHR, Tătar v. Romania, Appl. No. 67021/01, Judgment, 27 Jan. 2009, the Court stressed the importance of the precautionary principle, which stipulates that in the case of scientific uncertainty, states should not delay the adoption of effective and proportionate measures to prevent the risk of serious and irreversible environmental damage (see paras 109 and 120).

6 Thus, e.g., in Juliana v. United States, the court emphasized that, although they are of major importance to international policy, issues like climate change and energy and environmental regulation do not automatically preclude national courts from deciding on them: Juliana v. United States, F.Supp.3d 1224, 1236 (D. Or. 2016).

7 Malé (Maldives), 14 Nov. 2007, available at: http://www.ciel.org/Publications/Male_Declaration_Nov07.pdf.

8 New York, NY (US), 9 May 1992, in force 21 Mar. 1994, available at: https://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/conveng.pdf.

9 Kyoto (Japan), 11 Dec. 1997, in force 16 Feb. 2005, available at: http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/kpeng.pdf.

10 Paris (France), 12 Dec. 2015, in force 4 Nov. 2016, available at: http://unfccc.int/paris_agreement/items/9485.php. See also the Symposium Collection on Human Rights-Based Approaches to Climate Change in the post-Paris climate regime in (2018) 7(1) Transnational Environmental Law, and, in particular, Lewis, S. Adelman & B., ‘Symposium Foreword: Rights-Based Approaches to Climate Change’ (2018) 7(1) Transnational Environmental Law, pp. 9–15Google Scholar.

11 State Obligations in Relation to the Environment in the Context of the Protection and Guarantee of the Rights to Life and to Personal Integrity: Interpretation and Scope of Articles 4(1) and 5(1) of the American Convention on Human Rights, Advisory Opinion OC-23/18, Inter-AmCtHR, (Ser. A) No. 23 (15 Nov. 2017), available at: http://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/opiniones/seriea_23_esp.pdf (in Spanish).

12 UN Environment, ‘Towards a Global Pact for the Environment’, available at: https://globalpact.informea.org. See also Kotzé, L., ‘A Global Environmental Constitution for the Anthropocene?’ (2019) 8(1) Transnational Environmental Law, pp. 11–33CrossRefGoogle Scholar; See also the Special Issue on The Global Pact for the Environment and Gaps in International Environmental Law in (2019) 28(1) Review of European, Comparative and International Environmental Law.

13 UN General Assembly Resolution 72/277, ‘Towards a Global Pact for the Environment’ (10 May 2018), UN Doc A/RES/72/277, available at: https://undocs.org/en/A/RES/72/277.