In a Unanimous vote, United Nations Human Rights Council declared a clean, healthy & sustainable environment as a universal right On 8 October.
Highlights:
The right would be first recognized 70 years after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted in 1948 by the UN General Assembly.
The Right was first started in the 1972 Stockholm Declaration.
The resolution was followed by a campaign led by 13000 civil society organizations & indigenous peoples groups, 90,000 children, private sector stakeholders and the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions.
UN resolution
This resolution highlights the Rights to life, liberty and security of human rights defenders working in environmental matters. They are referred to as environmental human rights defenders.
The resolution also called on nations to expand their facilities to improve the environment.
The right was passed by 43-0. Four member states, i.e. India, China, Japan and Russia, were refused.