On 14 May 2025, in Luxembourg, the 134th Session of the Committee of Ministers should have been a decisive step forward for the protection of human rights and the environment. While the Convention on the Protection of the Environment through Criminal Law was indeed adopted and will be open for signature in December, no progress was made towards recognising, in a legally binding instrument, the fundamental right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.
As climate disasters, pollution and biodiversity loss worsen, Europe remains the only continent without a regional framework protecting this right. Yet, for several years now, parliamentarians, UN experts, academics, civil society and youth representatives have been calling for this legal gap to be addressed. Some delegations, such as those of Norway and Switzerland, continue to block any progress, despite the positive example set by countries like France, Slovenia and Portugal.
Ms Floridia
To ask the Committee of Ministers:
Will the Committee of Ministers take action and clarify the concrete steps to be taken in the short term to launch the drafting of a legally binding instrument that fully recognises the human right to a healthy environment, and the timetable envisaged for involving parliamentarians, civil society and young people in this process, in order to ensure transparency and democratic participation?