A/HRC/25/53 I. Introduction 1. In its resolution 19/10, the Human Rights Council decided to appoint an Independent Expert on the issue of human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment. In March 2013, the Independent Expert submitted a scoping report to the Council that described the evolution of the relationship between human rights and the environment (A/HRC/22/43). The report explained that the principal goal of the Independent Expert in the second year of his mandate would be to map human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment. 2. To that end, the Independent Expert carried out extensive research and held four regional consultations, in Nairobi, Geneva, Panama City and Copenhagen. (The Copenhagen consultation was with individuals from countries in Asia and Europe.) The consultations enabled the Independent Expert to hear the views of interested stakeholders, including Governments, international bodies, national human rights institutions, civil society organizations, the private sector and academic institutions. Each of the consultations addressed a particular theme: procedural rights and duties, substantive rights and duties, members of groups in vulnerable situations, and the integration of human rights and the environment into international institutions. 3. Section II of the present document describes the mapping process in more detail, section III identifies human rights threatened by environmental harm, and section IV describes human rights obligations relating to the environment. 4. The Independent Expert also addressed the other aspects of the mandate in 2013. He worked with the United Nations Environment Programme and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) as they developed an interagency programme to identify and disseminate information about good practices in the use of human rights obligations relating to environmental protection.1 The four regional consultations all discussed good practices as well as obligations. A country visit to Costa Rica in September 2013 also identified good practices, which are described in the separate report on that visit. Further consultations on good practices are planned for 2014 in South Africa, Thailand and the United States of America.2 Good practices will also be identified through other methods, such as sending a questionnaire to interested stakeholders. The goal is to prepare a compendium of good practices by March 2015. 5. The Independent Expert has contributed a human rights perspective to follow-up processes to the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development and has made recommendations towards realization of the Millennium Development Goals, by participating in the post-2015 global thematic consultation on environmental sustainability, and in a side-event on human rights and the environment held on 12 December 2013 at the sixth session of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals. He has recommended that the Sustainable Development Goals incorporate a human rights-based approach to environmental protection. 1 2 The inter-agency programme prefers the term “good practice” to “best practice”, recognizing that in many situations it will not be possible to identify a single “best” approach. In order for a practice to be considered “good”, it must integrate human rights and environmental standards in an exemplary manner. The consultation in the United States will be held at Yale University, in conjunction the United Nations Institute for Training and Research. 3