2449-7797 Ensuring the human rights to a healthy environment: normative regulation and practice of the ECtHR Zapewnienie prawa człowieka do zdrowego środowiska – przepisy normatywne i praktyka Volkova Yuliia author University of Liverpool 04xs57h96 Correspondence to: Yuliia Volkova juliiavolkovavd@gmail.com 29 09 2023 2023 (9) 2023 375 394 Copyright © 2023 2023 <p>This article examines the regulatory practice and the practice of the ECtHR in ensuring the right to a healthy environment. At the present stage of humankind, the question of understanding a person as part of an ecosystem is increasingly being raised. In this regard, it is important to emphasize that the current state of international legal regulation of environmental relations strongly indicates the need for serious reforms to international environmental law, primarily in terms of increasing the effectiveness of existing mechanisms for environmental cooperation between states and creating new mechanisms for such cooperation.</p> <p>It has been established that environmental rights are implemented primarily through the formation of international policy and legislation, especially the EU’s strategic position on the environment. This was legally enshrined in the Treaty on the European Community, which declared the EU’s aspirations for a high degree of protection, improving the quality of the environment and people’s standard of living. Over time, this became a starting point for the environmental policy and law of the EU, and then a duty for the implementation of national environmental legislation.</p> <p>It is indicated that the scientific recognition and normative consolidation of environmental rights in international law are important for the development of international ideological concepts of environmental protection, based on the ideas of solving environmental problems in the interests of the individual and all humankind. This is also salient for the formation of a system of international environmental law.</p> <p>A striking example of an international treaty that secures environmental human rights is the Convention of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-​Making and Access to Justice on Environmental Issues, adopted on 25 June 1998, in Aarhus, Denmark (the Aarhus Convention). This identified three main types of environmental rights considered as important factors in the development of democracy: public access to environmental information; public participation in the decision-​making process on environmental issues; public access to justice on environmental issues. These rights are implemented primarily through the formation of international environmental policy and international environmental legislation, especially the EU’s strategic position on the environment. This was legally enshrined in the Treaty on the European Community, which declared the EU’s aspirations for a high degree of protection, improving the quality of the environment and people’s standard of living. Over time, it became a starting point for the environmental policy and law of the EU, and then a duty for the implementation of national environmental legislation.</p> 1 Assembly debate on 29 September 2021 (27th sitting) (see Doc. 15367, report of the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development, rapporteur: Mr Simon Moutquin). [Internet]. [cited 2023 February 4]. Available from: https://pace.coe.int/pdf/658d3f594762736ba3c0f378798b2c9529cf4be34aa45a8c38616ecd18fa80c0/resolution%202396.pdf.   2 Assembly debate on 29 September 2021 (see Doc. 15351, report of the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy, rapporteur: Mr George Papandreou). [Internet]. [cited 2023 February 4]. Available from: https://pace.coe.int/pdf/3402d96e0ea3b8ffd6a6baa26727f9e1cf650da3f427eaac56bb41b5ee682a23/resolution%202397.pdf.   3 Assembly debate on 29 September 2021 (27th sitting) (see Doc. 15362, report of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, rapporteur: Mr Ziya Altunyaldiz). [Internet]. [cited 2023 February 4]. Available from: https://pace.coe.int/pdf/d267ce9b45e2010542623e352d362bc7733875c6bf1c94dfc1e7a659a478f68f/resolution%202398.pdf.    4 Assembly debate on 29 September 2021 (see Doc. 15353, report of the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development, rapporteur: Ms Edite Estrela; and Doc. 15354, opinion of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, rapporteur: Mr Norbert Kleinwaechter). [Internet]. [cited 2023 February 4]. Available from: https://pace.coe.int/pdf/dd08ec7501675ecf11211b44d1e0d8f0ce18a8cbcf2948efd616ed3b1ae942bf/resolution%202399.pdf. 5 Boyd, D., Chapter 2: The Right to a Healthy and Sustainable Environment in Aguila, Y. and Viñuales, J.E., 2019. A Global Pact for the Environment- Legal Foundations. University of Cambridge. 6 Council of Europe Doc. CM/Del/Dec(2022)132/3ci (n. 3) 7 Climate Change Litigation Databases [Internet]. [cited 2023 February 4]. Available from: http://climatecasechart.com/non-us-case/union-of-swiss-senior-women-for.   8 Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment [Internet]. [cited 2023 February 4]. Available from: https://www.un.org/ru/documents/decl_conv/declarations/declarathenv.shtml.   9 ECHR, Öneryildiz v. Turkey, Application № 48939/99, judgement of November 30th, 2004. 10 ECHR, Lopez Ostra v. Spain, Application № 16798/90, judgement of December 9th, 1994. 11 Environment and the Convention on Human Rights [Internet]. [cited 2023 February 4]. Available from: https://www.echr.coe.int/documents/fs_environment_eng.pdf 12 Іn historic move, UN declares healthy environment a human right [Internet]. [cited 2023 February 4]. Available from: https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/historic-move-un-declares-healthy-environment-human-right.   13 KlimaSeniorinnen v Switzerland (ECtHR) [Internet]. [cited 2023 February 4]. Available from: http://climatecasechart.com/non-us-case/union-of-swiss-senior-women-for-climate-protection-v-swiss-federal-council-and-others/.   14 PACE, ‘Anchoring the Right to a Healthy Environment: Need for Enhanced Action by the Council of Europe’, Resolution 2396 (2021), [Internet]. [cited 2023 February 4]. Available from: https://pace.coe.int/en/files/29499 15 PACE, ‘Anchoring the right to a healthy environment: need for enhanced action by the Council of Europe’, Recommendation 2211 (2021), [Internet]. [cited 2023 February 4]. Available from: https://pace.coe.int/en/files/29499.   16 Resolution adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 28 July 2022, UN Doc. A/RES/76/300, [Internet]. [cited 2023 February 4]. Available from: https://undocs.org/en/A/RES/76/300. 17 Resolution adopted by the United Nations Human Rights Council on 8 October 2021, UN Doc. A/HRC/RES/48/13, [Internet]. [cited 2023 February 4]. Available from: https://undocs.org/A/HRC/RES/48/13. 18 Steering Committee for Human Rights, Drafting Group on Human Rights and Environment, ‘Revised text of the draft Recommendation on Human rights and the environment’ (10 January 2022), Council of Europe Doc. CDDH- ENV(2022)02 [Internet]. [cited 2023 February 4]. Available from: https://rm.coe.int/steering-committee-for-human-rights-comite-directeur-pour-les-droits-d/1680a521ee. 19 The Environmental Rights Recognition Project [Internet]. [cited 2023 February 4]. Available from: https://deliverypdf.ssrn.com/delivery.php?ID=2200901270650-0609712711709112009606405403808903704804201010308708111901107111-2083093100042033122009045047066019125065111113023052078043034093126-1130920930041030960890810460430060791270890060670161140010730830161-25000097078006125065007101075107074112112&amp;EXT=pdf&amp;INDEX=TRUE 20 The human right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment: Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council on 8 October 2021 [Internet]. [cited 2023 February 4]. Available from: https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G21/289/50/PDF/G2128950.pdf?OpenElement. 21 The right to a healthy environment: PACE proposes draft of a new protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights [Internet]. [cited 2023 February 4]. Available from: https://pace.coe.int/en/news/8452/the-right-to-a-healthy-environment-pace-proposes-draft-of-a-new-protocol-to-the-european-convention-on-human-rights- 22 The Rio declaration on environment and development [Internet]. [cited 2023 February 4]. Available from: https://www.preventionweb.net/files/resolutions/N9283657.pdf.   23 UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision- making, and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters [Internet]. [cited 2023 February 4]. Available from: http://www.unece.org/env/pp/welcome.html.   24 UN General Assembly Resolution No. 70/1 of September 25, 2015 „Transforming our world. 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.” [Internet]. [cited 2023 February 4]. Available from: http://sdg.org.ua/ua/resources-2/344-2030-2015 25 Volume of Decisions of the 132nd Session of the Committee of Ministers (Turin, Italy – 20 May 2021), Council of Europe Doc. CM/Del/Dec(2022)132/3ci, [Internet]. [cited 2023 February 4]. Available from: https://search.coe.int/cm/Pages/result_details.aspx?Reference=CM/Del/Dec(2022)132/3ci