A broad group of civil society organizations, social movements, and Indigenous Peoples Organizations have called on the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Permanent Representatives of the Member States of the Council of Europe for the swift recognition of the human right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment through an additional Protocol to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

The joint letter sent to representatives of the Member States of the Council of Europe reflects a core priority for children, youth and many other constituencies across the continent and is supported by a broad coalition of organizations working for human rights, environmental protection, gender equality, social inclusion, as well as trade unions and faith-based organizations.

The adverse impacts of the triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss can be felt by all people living in the Member States of the Council of Europe. Across the continent, more than 300,000 people die prematurely every year due to atmospheric pollution. The accelerating climate crisis fuels unprecedented heatwaves, prolonged droughts, repeated floods, sea-level rise, and disastrous wildfires that ravage communities and ecosystems. From the Mediterranean Sea to the Arctic Circle, entire ecosystems are collapsing and communities suffer from the consequences from the irreversible loss of biodiversity, affecting the supply of safe drinking water, contributing to poor air quality, threatening food security, decreasing the resilience of communities, and wiping out cultural practices. As a result, younger generations now grow up with new forms of anxiety. These crises exacerbate existing inequalities and most seriously affect the human rights of those already in marginalized situations.

In forty-two of the forty-six Council of Europe Member States, the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment is already protected through national constitutions, legislation, court decisions, or as these States are Parties to the Aarhus Convention. The scale of the harms for people living in Europe, and the importance of coming to a unified approach in interpreting and implementing the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment makes it imperative for the Council of Europe to urgently take decisive steps toward the adoption of a binding legal framework that recognizes and protects the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment.

The adoption of an additional Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights would provide the most powerful and impactful human rights-based response to the environmental crisis, filling a gap in human rights protection, leading to clarifying policies required and fostering accountability that is vital for the protection of present and future generations. It would reinforce and consolidate the legal protection of the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment throughout Europe, further ensuring the enjoyment of all human rights. It would also equip governments on the continent with additional legal norms to defend their policies against encroachments and abusive judicial actions by corporate actors.

Europe can ensure the health and well being of children today and in the future by acting now.

Read the complete letter here.