What is the right to a healthy environment?
In July 2022, the United Nations welcomed the recognition by the General Assembly that a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment is a human right. That includes:
- A safe climate
- Clean air
- Healthy ecosystems and biodiversity
- Safe and sufficient water
- Healthy and sustainable food
- Non-toxic environment
- As well as access to information, public participation and access to justice.
Fast forward to August 2024, the Australian Capital Territory Parliament passed a law protecting the right to a healthy environment. It made the ACT the only place in Australia where that right is protected.
A healthy environment is crucial for our wellbeing and happiness. This law in the ACT means the government must consider the right to a healthy environment when making decisions. It also means that if those rights are ever violated, the community has the legal grounding to take action and challenge injustice.
A US case study
In the United States, Montanna politicians passed a law prohibiting state agencies from considering the impact of emissions in their decision-making. This meant that when evaluating a coal mine approval, they were prevented from factoring in the mine’s emissions.
Like so many of us, people in Montana were already feeling the consequences of climate change, with more smoke from worsening wildfires, retreating glaciers, and increasing drought.
In response, sixteen young people took the government to court asserting their right to a ‘clean and healthful environment’ which is protected in Montanna.
The result: the court ruled in their favour!
An Australian case study
In 2021, a group of eight children, led by Anjali Sharma, filed a case against the Federal Minister for the Environment to prevent the approval of the Vickery Extension Project, a coal mine expansion in New South Wales.
In May 2021, the court initially ruled in favour of the children, recognising that the Minister owed a duty of care to avoid causing personal injury to young people due to the project’s potential climate impacts.
While the ruling was later overturned in an appeal in March 2022, the case remains groundbreaking, highlighting the government’s responsibilities in addressing climate change.
In 2023, Anjali Sharma moved to Canberra for university and worked with ACT Senator David Pocock on a Duty of Care Bill, building on that legal action. Although the Senate Inquiry recommended passing the bill, the youth activist continues this vital conversation about the right to a healthy environment at a national level.
What could this mean for Australia?
With the right to a healthy environment protected in Australia’s laws, our community could take action against climate injustice. But without a federal Human Rights Act, these injustices can continue to go unchecked.
Australia is the only liberal democracy in the world without a law protecting all human rights. A Human Rights Act would protect our right to a healthy environment alongside our rights to health, housing, education, and more.
Protecting our rights in a Federal Human Rights Act will help us protect our future and the future of our planet – where we can all enjoy clean air, safe waters and climate, and healthy biodiversity and ecosystems.
With so many people in Australia facing the consequences of climate inaction through floods, fires, and droughts, now is the time to protect the right to a healthy environment in our laws.
What’s next?
The good news is that we’re closer than ever to protecting our human rights in law. The Labor-led Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights has recently recommended the government legislate a Human Rights Act to protect all our human rights – including the right to a healthy environment – in our federal laws.
We know that 3 in 4 people support the government legislating a Human Rights Act. To get them to commit to legislating an Act, Members of Parliament need to hear that their constituents support a Human Rights Act and want them to legislate one.
Sign the petition to support a Human Rights Act now! Together, we can create a fairer future, where all our human rights – including our right to a healthy environment – are protected in our federal laws.
