A/HRC/40/55 right of every person of present and future generations to live in an environment adequate to his or her health and well-being” (art. 1). There are 46 States parties to the Aarhus Convention (plus the European Union). 11. In total, 124 States are parties to legally binding international treaties that explicitly include the right to a healthy environment. 1 12. In September 2018, the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean (Escazú Agreement) opened for signature. The agreement requires that “each Party shall guarantee the right of every person to live in a healthy environment” (art. 4). Sixteen States have signed the Escazú Agreement, but it is not yet in force. The Human Rights Declaration adopted by the 10 States in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 2012 incorporates the “right to a safe, clean and sustainable environment” as an element of the right to an adequate standard of living (para. 28 (f)), but is not legally binding. 13. There are 100 States whose constitutions explicitly incorporate the right to a healthy environment, using a variety of phrases used to describe this right. For example, the Constitution of Costa Rica states: “All persons have the right to a healthy and ecologically balanced environment” (art. 50). The Constitution of Fiji states: “Every person has the right to a clean and healthy environment, which includes the right to have the natural world protected for the benefit of present and future generations through legislative and other measures” (art. 40 (1)). 14. There are at least 12 additional countries where courts have ruled that the right to a healthy environment is an essential element of the right to life (e.g. India, Ireland, Nigeria and Pakistan) and therefore is an enforceable, constitutionally protected right. 2 15. There are more than 100 States where the right to a healthy environment is explicitly incorporated in national environmental legislation. 16. In total, at least 155 States are legally obligated, through treaties, constitutions, and legislation, to respect, protect, and fulfil the right to a healthy environment. This provides a compelling basis for the United Nations to move expeditiously to provide global recognition of the right to a healthy and sustainable environment, as recommended by both the previous and current Special Rapporteurs on human rights and the environment. 1 2 The total number of parties to the African Charter, the Aarhus Convention, the Protocol of San Salvador and the Arab Charter is 128. (The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has made a reservation to the Aarhus Convention; the State of Palestine has the status of “nonmember observer State” at the United Nations; and Algeria and Libya are parties to both the Arab Charter and the African Charter, bringing the total to 124.) D.R. Boyd, “The implicit constitutional right to a healthy environment”, Review of European Community and International Environmental Law, vol. 20, No. 2 (July 2011) pp. 171–179. 3