A/HRC/43/53 I. Introduction 1. In 2018, the Human Rights Council appointed David R. Boyd Special Rapporteur on human rights obligations related to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment. Over the past year, the Special Rapporteur has made country visits to Fiji and Norway (see A/HRC/43/53/Add.1 and Add.2), presented thematic reports on clean air (A/HRC/40/55) to the Council and on a safe climate to the General Assembly (A/74/161), and hosted an expert meeting on the theme of experience and best practices of States at the national and regional levels with regard to human rights obligations relating to the environment (see A/HRC/43/54). 2. In the present report, the Special Rapporteur highlights good practices in the recognition and implementation of the human right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment. The term “good practice” is defined broadly to include laws, policies, jurisprudence, strategies, programmes, projects and other measures that contribute to reducing adverse impacts on the environment, improving environmental quality and fulfilling human rights. The good practices address both the procedural and substantive elements of the right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment. The procedural elements are access to information, public participation, and access to justice and effective remedies. The substantive elements include clean air, a safe climate, access to safe water and adequate sanitation, healthy and sustainably produced food, non-toxic environments in which to live, work, study and play, and healthy biodiversity and ecosystems. II. The process of compiling good practices 3. In April 2019, the Special Rapporteur issued a call for inputs on good practices relating to the implementation of the human right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment. He thanks the Governments of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Colombia, Honduras, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Mali, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Norway, Senegal, Serbia, Slovenia, Sweden, Ukraine, Uruguay and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela for their informative responses. A number of international organizations, civil society organizations and individuals also provided useful inputs. 1 At the request of the Human Rights Council, on 20 and 21 June 2019 the Special Rapporteur co-hosted, with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), an expert seminar to discuss the experiences and good practices of States with regard to the implementation of the right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment. 4. The Special Rapporteur also created a global online “researchathon”, which resulted in the submission of hundreds of good practices from more than 175 States Members of the United Nations. Contributors included government officials, representatives of international agencies, civil society organizations, academics, students, lawyers and judges (see annex I). 5. In November 2019, the Special Rapporteur co-hosted five regional webinars on the role of national human rights institutions in protecting the right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment. Co-organized by the United Nations Development Programme, UNEP, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions, these informative webinars also identified many good practices. 6. In the present report, the Special Rapporteur summarizes only a subset of submitted good practices; he describes additional good practices in a document available on the webpage of the mandate.2 All good practices collected will be added to the inventory compiled by the previous mandate holder and made available at www.environmentalrightsdatabase.org. There are many more good practices in addition to 1 2 All submissions are available at www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Environment/SREnvironment/Pages/GoodPracticesRight2HESubmissions. aspx. Additional Good Practices in the Implementation of the Right to a Safe, Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment. Available at www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Environment/SREnvironment/Pages/Annualreports.aspx. 3