In October 2021, Resolution 48/13 of the United Nations Human Rights Council was passed. The Resolution recognizes as a human right a person’s access to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. Non-governmental organizations now push the United Nations General Assembly for formal adoption of Resolution 48/13.
The United States did NOT participate in the vote of October 2021, as it was not a member UN Human Rights Council at that time. The United States will still be present if Resolution 48/13 is brought before the UN General Assembly. The United States expressed concern that the recognition of a human right to a clean, healthy, sustainable environment could weaken traditional civil and 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 potentially expand legal conceptions regarding environmental protection.