A/HRC/28/61
20.
The compilation of good practices will be available at the official website of the
mandate holder (available through www.ohchr.org) and on the personal website of the
Independent Expert (http://ieenvironment.org). Although the compilation is only in English
at the moment, the Independent Expert hopes to find resources to have the practices
translated into the other official languages of the United Nations.
21.
The compilation will also be available on a website created for it
(environmentalrightsdatabase.org). The website will facilitate searching for good practices
with key words and will allow the addition of more good practices in the future.
III. Good practices in the use of human rights obligations relating
to the environment
22.
The following description of good practices in the use of human rights obligations in
relation to environmental protection is organized into nine categories: (a) procedural
obligations generally; (b) the obligation to make environmental information public; (c) the
obligation to facilitate public participation in environmental decision-making; (d) the
obligation to protect the rights of expression and association; (e) the obligation to provide
access to legal remedies; (f) substantive obligations; (g) obligations relating to non-State
actors; (h) obligations relating to transboundary harm; and (i) obligations relating to those
in vulnerable situations. Practices that fall into more than one category were placed in the
category that seemed most relevant.
23.
Because of space limitations, this report describes the practices only briefly. A fuller
description of each practice is available at the websites noted above.
24.
The Independent Expert is well aware that there are many more good practices in
this field than those that this project has identified. The practices included here should be
taken as illustrative, rather than exhaustive, of the many innovative and exemplary efforts
being made to bring a human rights perspective to environmental protection.
A.
Procedural obligations
25.
Human rights law imposes procedural obligations on States in relation to
environmental protection, including duties: (a) to assess environmental impacts and make
environmental information public; (b) to facilitate public participation in environmental
decision-making, including by protecting the rights of expression and association; and (c) to
provide access to remedies for harm (A/HRC/25/53, para. 29). These obligations also have
support in international environmental instruments, particularly Principle 10 of the Rio
Declaration, which provides that “each individual shall have appropriate access to
information concerning the environment that is held by public authorities” and “the
opportunity to participate in decision-making processes”, and that “effective access to
judicial and administrative proceedings, including redress and remedy, shall be provided.”
26.
The following sections of this report describe good practices in the use of each of
these procedural obligations. This section describes several practices that are relevant to the
full range of procedural obligations.
27.
One such practice was the adoption in 2010 by the UNEP Governing Council of the
Bali Guidelines for the Development of National Legislation on Access to Information,
Public Participation and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, 26 voluntary
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