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Article 23 Avr, 2020

European Parliament publishes study on "Biodiversity as a Human Right and its implications for the EU’s External Action"

In April 2020, the European Parliament published a studyÌýon biodiversity as a human right to inform the European Parliament’s work on how the European Union’s external action can best contribute to a holistic and human rights-based approach aimed at stopping biodiversity loss and degradation.

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Photo: WCEL

"" proposes the development ofÌýa holistic and human rights-based approach to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in external action, including as part of the fight against climate change. The study notes,

"...the expression ‘biodiversity as a human right’ conveys that there are already existing international legally binding obligations at the nexus of international biodiversity andÌýinternational human rights law. While from a legal perspective States already have international legally binding obligations on the nexus between biodiversity and human rights, these obligations are still not well known to biodiversity experts and advocates, or to human rights experts and advocates. There is as yet no comparable mobilisation around biodiversity as a human right as there is in the case of climate change and human rights."

The UNÌýSpecial Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment, WCEL Member David Boyd, is credited for promoting the international recognition of the human right to a healthy environment. In his 2019Ìý, Dr. Boyd notes that a healthy environment comprisesÌý"clean air, a safe climate, access to safe water and adequate sanitation, healthy and sustainably produced food, non-toxic environments in which to live, work, study and play and healthy biodiversity and ecosystems."

Within this framework, the study recommendsÌýinitiatives that canÌýaddress theÌýhuman rights dimensions of biodiversity in the context of development, trade and other areas of international cooperation.

The full study can be readÌý.Ìý

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