The climate crisis and the rule of law
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly
debate on 29 September 2021 (27th sitting) (see Doc. 15353, report of the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and
Sustainable Development, rapporteur: Ms Edite Estrela; and Doc. 15354, opinion of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human
Rights, rapporteur: Mr Norbert Kleinwaechter). Text adopted by the Assembly on
29 September 2021 (27th sitting).See also Recommendation 2214 (2021).
1. Thirty years of reports by the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have helped to establish
a broad scientific consensus on the severity of the climate crisis,
acknowledging that irreversible changes have occurred under human
influence. We face a local, national, regional and global challenge,
which requires everyone to play their part.
2. The Council of Europe and the Parliamentary Assembly had occasion,
very early on, to take action to combat this threat to human rights
and humankind in its entirety. The Assembly refers to Principle
1 of the Stockholm Declaration (1972), which states: “[M]an has
the fundamental right to freedom, equality and adequate conditions
of life, in an environment of a quality that permits a life of dignity
and well-being, and he bears a solemn responsibility to protect
and improve the environment, for present and future generations.”
The Assembly also recalls that although the European Convention
on Human Rights (ETS No. 5) does not contain an explicit right to
a healthy environment, the European Court of Human Rights has established,
through its case law, that in certain circumstances States Parties
have positive obligations to adopt reasonable and adequate measures
to protect the rights of individuals if their well-being might be
affected by environmental damage.
3. The Assembly intends, pursuant to the commitments made by
Council of Europe member States in the context of the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (1992) and the Paris Agreement (2015),
to help to develop climate resilience. It underlines that any measures
aimed at equipping our societies to cope with the impact and the
threats of global warming must adhere to the principles of the rule
of law.
4. The Assembly recalls its reflection on the notion of the rule
of law, in particular in
Resolution
1594 (2007) “The principle of the Rule of Law” and in
Resolution 2187 (2017) “Venice
Commission’s Rule of Law Checklist”. It reiterates that its core
elements are legality, including a transparent, accountable and
democratic process for enacting law, legal certainty, the prohibition
of arbitrariness, access to justice before independent and impartial courts,
including judicial review of administrative acts, respect for human
rights, non-discrimination and equality before the law, which are
to be respected at all times.
5. The Assembly urges the Council of Europe member States, while
ensuring everyone’s dignity and well-being, to:
5.1 promote the rule of law and
employ a transparent, accountable and democratic legislative process
for implementing the aim of “net zero emissions”, based on clear
and credible plans to meet commitments to keep the global temperature
increase in line with the preferred objective of the Paris Agreement,
amounting to an increase in average temperatures of 1.5°C;
5.2 continue to take a holistic approach combining economic,
social and political development and environmental protection, in
a spirit of equality and solidarity of purpose, as it had already
invited them to do in its
Resolution 1292
(2002) “World Summit on Sustainable Development: ten
years after Rio”. It invites them therefore to make widespread use
of assessments of the environmental impact of public policies at
local, national and regional levels, incorporating economic, social
and political criteria and supporting the undertakings made under
the Paris Agreement;
5.3 launch, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and as quickly
as possible, ambitious recovery programmes respecting the limit
of 1.5°C set by the Paris Agreement;
5.4 schedule, as soon as possible, parliamentary debates on
the nationally determined contributions, so as to share information,
in full transparency, on the national ambitions arising from the
preferred objective set by the Paris Agreement;
5.5 exercise the utmost caution and restraint when adopting
measures that might necessitate derogation from the European Convention
on Human Rights and, before doing so, explore every possibility
for responding to the emergency situation using normal measures
(see
Resolution 2209 (2018) “State
of emergency: proportionality issues concerning derogations under
Article 15 of the European Convention on Human Rights”).
6. The Assembly calls on Turkey to join the international consensus
by ratifying the Paris Agreement.
7. The Assembly emphasises the importance of the involvement
of parliaments. Renewing the groundbreaking commitment to combating
the climate crisis which it made through
Resolution 1292 (2002), it calls
for the establishment of a parliamentary network operating under
its auspices. Its task will be to inspire and follow the action
taken by national authorities to honour the strong commitments they
have made vis-à-vis the climate crisis while fostering the mutual
enrichment of ideas and setting up regular opportunities for parliamentarians
in Europe and on other continents to pool their experience.
