In October 2021, Resolution 48/13 was adopted by the United Nations Human Rights Council. The Resolution recognizes as a human right a person’s access to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. Non-governmental organizations are urging the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to officially adopt Resolution 48/13.
The United States didn’t participate in the October 2021 vote as it wasn’t a member at the time of the UN Human Rights Council. The United States will still be present if Resolution 48/13 is brought before the UN General Assembly. The United States raised concerns just before the October 2021 vote that recognizing a human rights to a clean and healthy environment might weaken civil and traditional political rights.
Although Resolution 48/13 has not been legally adopted by the UN General Assembly it would symbolically bring rights-based approaches on global environmental issues to bear and expand legal conceptions about environmental protection.
