On October 25th, David Boyd, Professor with the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs and UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on recognizing the right of people to live in a healthy environment. As the special rapporteur, Boyd will play a critical role over the next three years in highlighting potential human rights abuses as nations struggle to cut emissions, replant forests, electrify transportation and replace fossil fuels with renewable energy. He will visit countries to evaluate governmental actions and investigate environmental harm as human rights violations, reporting his findings to the U.N. Human Rights Council.
A UN resolution to connect human rights to environmental issues could be used to exert pressure on countries to address pressing environmental problems like global warming and climate change. Boyd is now seeking a sponsor from among the 100 countries that recognize the right to a healthy environment in their constitutions. Boyd reported that he’s found that 80 percent of those countries also strengthened their environmental laws to carry out that guaranteed protection.
