Human rights and the environment: good practices

The project will identify practical and concrete examples of good practices where states and other actors have successfully implemented human rights obligations related to environmental protection and management, which could be replicated in other contexts, and  which will increase the understanding and awareness of the linkages between human rights and the environment, including providing more clarity on the human rights obligations related to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, sustainable and healthy environment. 

To achieve the above objective, the project will review good practices at the international, regional, national and sub-national levels in collaboration with a wide range of actors through various strategies, including regional consultations, questionnaires, and an interactive web-portal. It will focus on good practices by a wide range of actors, including governments, civil society organisations, and international organisations. The good practices will also be disseminated in accessible publications, such as fact sheets, training guides and information pamphlets, which also for part of capacity building programmes. 

The good practices gathered during the first phase of the project will provide UNEP with the knowledge and opportunity to undertake a second phase and respond to country specific requests for policy guidance on human rights and the environment. The project will integrate, as a result of its work with relevant stakeholders at the national level, a second phase where pilot projects and country specific policy recommendations will be developed at the national level for selected interested countries. 

UNEP, the OHCHR and the Independent Expert have recently engaged in a joint project on good practices on human rights and the environment. Through a consultative process, the partners will engage with stakeholders, build political momentum and ownership within both the human rights and the environment communities, towards, ultimately, strengthening the nexus between human rights and environment. In this context, two consultations were held, in Nairobi (February 2013) and Panama (July 2013).