A/HRC/22/43 human rights. In other words, they have concentrated not on proclaiming a new right to a healthy environment, but rather on what might be called “greening” human rights – that is, examining and highlighting the relationship of existing human rights to the environment. 17. This effort, as well as similar efforts in other forums, has identified two sets of rights closely related to the environment: (a) rights whose enjoyment is particularly vulnerable to environmental degradation; and (b) rights whose exercise supports better environmental policymaking. At the risk of oversimplification, many of the rights in the first category – that is, those at risk from environmental harm – are often characterized as substantive rights, while many of the rights in the second category – those whose implementation supports stronger environmental policies – are often considered procedural rights. Examples of the former are rights to life, health and property; examples of the latter are rights to freedom of expression and association, to information, to participation in decisionmaking and to effective remedies. The next two sections of the present report describe the developing awareness of the environmental aspects of each of these sets of rights. B. Human rights vulnerable to environmental harm 18. The recognition that environmental harm can interfere with the full enjoyment of human rights is not new; it dates from the very beginning of the modern environmental movement. In the 1968 resolution deciding to convene the Stockholm Conference, the General Assembly, in the preamble of its resolution 2398 (XXIII), noted its concern about the effects of “the continuing and accelerating impairment of the quality of the human environment … on the condition of man, his physical, mental and social well-being, his dignity and his enjoyment of basic human rights, in developing as well as developed countries”. And the first paragraph of the proclamation of the 1972 Stockholm Declaration states that “both aspects of man‟s environment, the natural and the man-made, are essential to his well-being and to the enjoyment of basic human rights – even the right to life itself” (para. 1). 19. In a real sense, all human rights are vulnerable to environmental degradation, in that the full enjoyment of all human rights depends on a supportive environment. However, some human rights are more susceptible than others to certain types of environmental harm. In recent years, in addition to reaffirming the general point that “environmental damage can have negative implications, both direct and indirect, for the effective enjoyment of human rights” (res. 16/11, preamble), the Human Rights Council has identified environmental threats to particular rights. To give three examples, it has: affirmed that illicit traffic in, and improper management and disposal of, hazardous substances and wastes constitute a serious threat to a range of rights, including the rights to life and health; 10 underlined that climate change has a wide range of implications for the effective enjoyment of human rights, including the rights to life, health, food, water, housing and self-determination;11 and recognized that “environmental degradation, desertification and global climate change are exacerbating destitution and desperation, causing a negative impact on the realization of the right to food, in particular in developing countries”.12 20. The Human Rights Council has also led other human rights bodies and mechanisms within the United Nations system to examine in more detail the effects of environmental 10 11 12 Commission on Human Rights res. 2005/15; Council res. 9/1, 12/18, 18/11. See also Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, para. 11. Council res. 7/23, 10/4, 18/22. It has also held two panel discussions, in 2009 and 2012, that have elaborated on those implications. Council res. 7/14, 10/12, 13/4. 7