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Mainstreaming the human right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment with the Reykjavik process

Amendment No. 5 | Doc. 15955 | 16 April 2024

Signatories:
Mr Norbert KLEINWÄCHTER, Germany, EC/DA ; Mr Martin GRAF, Austria, EC/DA ; Ms Nicole HÖCHST, Germany, EC/DA ; Mr Marcin ROMANOWSKI, Poland, EC/DA ; Mr Harald WEYEL, Germany, EC/DA
Origin
2024 - Second part-session
In the draft resolution, paragraph 2, replace the words "notes with dismay that the Council of Europe is now the only regional human rights system which has not yet formally recognised the right to a healthy environment" with the following words:

"notes that there is no such thing as a human right to a healthy environment, as human rights, derived from natural law, are always rights against the sovereign power aimed at helping humankind to establish its full potential. As governments and human rights cannot interfere with nature, the Assembly discourages anyone from trying to declare climate policy-derived initiatives a human right"

Explanatory note

Human rights are defensive rights against the State, derived from natural law or the divine order (Thomas Aquinas) and directly related to the human being as a sacred being. If nature interferes, this cannot be subject to human rights.