Ecological University of Bucharest: International Colloquium Universal Recognition of the Human Right to a Healthy Environment – Bucharest, House of Ecology, May 19–20, 2025

The Stockholm Conference in June 1972, held 53 years ago, represented the first UN initiative in the field of environmental protection. It was marked by the proclamation that: “Man has a fundamental right to satisfactory living conditions in an environment whose quality enables him to live in dignity and well-being.”

In 1981, Africa was the first continent to enshrine this new right in a regional convention (Article 24 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights). In 2018, South America adopted the Escazú Agreement, recognizing the “right of every person, of present and future generations, to live in a healthy environment and to benefit from sustainable development” (Article 1 of the regional agreement on access to information, public participation, and access to justice in environmental matters in Latin America and the Caribbean).

Also, a series of documents adopted within the EU have addressed aspects of this issue. Meanwhile, over 150 countries have enshrined the right to a healthy environment in their constitutions. On July 28, 2022, for the first time, the United Nations General Assembly voted on a resolution that enshrines this right.

The international colloquium aims to analyze the human right to a healthy environment and its effectiveness in regional and international law. Various draft universal conventions regarding the right to a healthy and sustainable environment will be examined, considering or not considering the interdependence between humans and nature.

The 2024 project of the International Pact on the Right to a Healthy Environment, developed by the International Center for Comparative Environmental Law, should enshrine, in the future, at a universal level, the human right to a healthy environment.

Congratulations UEB

By

Robert Williams