In the Final Declaration of the 4th Council of Europe Summit (Appendix V), the Heads of State and Government underligned “the urgency of taking co-ordinated action to protect the environment by countering the triple planetary crisis of pollution, climate change, and loss of biodiversity.” They agreed on the launch of the “Reykjavík Process” to strengthen the Council of Europe’s work in the field of environment and human rights.
The Parliamentary Assembly and its Network of Contact Parliamentarians for a Healthy Environment welcome the political will which was shown in Reykjavík to resume this challenge as part of the Council of Europe’s mandate. The Assembly has repeatedly called for the recognition of the right to a safe, clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, in order to accelerate the necessary changes and respond to the expectations of society. The expected qualitative leap requires creativity and the allocation of sufficient resources.
The Assembly strongly supports the commitment of Heads of State and Government to strengthen the work of the Council of Europe on environmental issues linked to human rights; to mainstream the human right to a safe, clean, healthy, and sustainable environment; to take into account the social dimensions of climate change and environmental degradation; to finalise or prepare new legal instruments in the field of human rights and the environment; and to create an Intergovernmental Committee on environment and human rights (“Reykjavík Committee”). The Assembly should formulate recommendations to the Committee of Ministers on the practical implementation of these commitments.