04/09/2009 Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
An additional protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights, which would recognise the right to a healthy, sustainable environment, has become necessary according to José Mendes Bota (Portugal, EPP/CD), the author of a report on this issue adopted today by the Environment Committee. The inclusion of this right in the Convention would in fact enable the Court to rule directly on violations of that fundamental right, and is a natural extension of the Council of Europe’s role in environmental protection. Moreover, society as a whole and each individual has a duty to pass on a healthy environment to future generations ; this, the rapporteur adds, is quite simply the principle of solidarity between generations.