05/06/2024 Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development | Parliamentary Network for a Healthy Environment
A PACE committee is urging Council of Europe member states to act “rapidly and with determination” on existing environmental standards and practices, from a less anthropocentric perspective and taking into account recent legal developments in environmental matters.
The Assembly’s Social Affairs Committee, approving a draft resolution based on a report by Pedro Cegonho (Portugal, SOC), said that a sustainable world means meeting the needs of future generations as well as the present one: “This is nothing less than respecting intergenerational equity and is all the more an absolute imperative in the face of the climate change challenge of today.”
The committee welcomed the recent commitment made by Council of Europe heads of state and government in Reykjavik to meet current and future challenges, “rising to the expectations of future generations and making the environment a visible priority for the Organisation”.
States should “seize and build upon this strategic moment” to act not only for the environment, but also to uphold civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights for future generations, based on the fundamental principles of equality and non-discrimination.
The report should be debated by the full Assembly in June.