From the Right to a Healthy Planet to the Planetary Right to Health

Abstract

The rich potential of legal rights in advancing planetary health is no longer untapped. In July, 2022, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution A/76/L.75, which recognised “the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment as a human right”, by a landslide of 161 votes. This historic resolution stands on the shoulders of a long line of UN initiatives, such as the Human Rights Council's Resolution 48/13, which was enacted in October, 2021, and recognised the right to a healthy environment as “important for the enjoyment of human rights”. This occurred 6 months after UN Environment, WHO, and 13 other UN entities issued a statement that described the failure to recognise the right to a healthy environment as detrimental to the attainment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Earlier, the Stockholm Declaration on the Human Environment 1972 affirmed that humans have “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”. Two decades later, the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development 1992 demanded that states “conserve, protect and restore the health and integrity of the Earth's ecosystem”.