Although no universally agreed international definition of the youth age group exists, the United Nations refers to youth as people aged from 15 to 24. Today, there are 1.2 billion young people aged 15 to 24 years, accounting for 16 percent of the global population. By 2030, the number of youth is projected to have grown by 7 percent, to nearly 1.3 billion. In less than 10 years, when humanity is supposed to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it will be people that are currently young and those entering in their youth years that will be bearing the fruits of current environmental and climate decisions and suffer or enjoy their consequences the most.

Young people are not only victims of the environmental and climate crises, they are powerful actors and agents of change that contribute to achieving a more sustainable planet, SDGs, equality and respect of human rights.

Humanity depends on the boundless energy, ideas and contributions of youth everywhere. Today and every day, let’s support and stand with young people in shaping a just and sustainable world, for people and planet.

— UN Secretary-General António Guterres

Young people have helped reshape the global climate debate because they know that they’ll be the ones that could inherit a broken planet

— Inger Andersen, UNEP Executive Director

In spite of the recognition of youth capacities and potential as a driving motor for a sustainable future, young people often lack access to policy and decision-making spaces and power or struggle to be really listened to and make an impact when included in these processes. To fully unlock youth potential to address the challenges of the triple planetary crisis, they must be granted access to adequate education, skills, and opportunities.

Youth and the Triple Planetary Crisis

The triple planetary crisis of biodiversity loss, climate change and pollution affects everyone, but with half of the global population being under the age of 30, the youth is not only the most affected and for the longest part of their lives. It is also less implicated in decision-making processes in response to the triple planetary crisis. Nevertheless, young people from across the world have demonstrated a great sense of awareness, willingness to act and ingenuity in developing solutions to these crises.

Biodiversity Loss

Young people have demonstrated a highly vested interest in halting biodiversity loss and making conservation more equitable, inclusive and sustainable. Since 2012, the Global Youth Biodiversity Network contributes and participates to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) processes through advocacy and policy papers on their vision of biodiversity loss governance and instruments and with proposals on how to transform education to discipline young people and future generations on the protection of biodiversity.

Climate Change

A global survey published in the Lancet found that 59% of young people and children are very or extremely worried and 84% are at least moderately worried. With half of these young people expressing feelings like sadness, anxiety, anger, powerlessness, helplessness, and guilt; climate change negatively affects their daily life and functioning. As a consequence, it is common among young people to lack trust in governmental action over climate change.

Young people have demonstrated a vast array of reactions to this situation. From joining a global partnership of young people asking for more concrete climate actions to their governments through the Friday’s for the Future Movement to climate litigation cases, young people have raised awareness at local and global levels on the most urgent problem facing humanity. Young people are also promoters of lifestyle changes and concrete solutions and advocates for the rights of vulnerable groups, including Indigenous people, who are often excluded from decision-making.

Youth is also present in and vocal about official climate change negotiations. Through the organization of parallel events, interventions, and related actions, young people continue advocating for a more enabling environment for children and young people to access and contribute to decision-making processes and for their voices and inhibit equal access. → More information is provided below in the section Youth @ Climate COPs.

Pollution

Young people are affected by air, soil, water and waste pollution. Oftentimes, young people end up working in informal waste collection and in agricultural settings where high levels of pesticides are used, risking their health and futures. Young people also represent an important part of consumers, which choices to consume less and better can drastically impact the level of waste pollution generated. Youth is highly engaged in pollution discussions and debates, as demonstrated by the creation of the Global Youth Coalition on Plastic Pollution (GYCPP) on the eve of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution; the active participation on chemicals related processes and negotiations were seen through the Major Group for Children and Youth (MGCY) Chemicals and Waste Platform.

Youth and Human Rights

Young people face discrimination and obstacles to the enjoyment of their rights by virtue of their age, limiting their potential. The human rights of youth, therefore, refers to the full enjoyment of fundamental rights and freedoms by young people, including the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. Promoting these rights entails addressing the specific challenges and barriers faced. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) report on youth and human rights (A/HRC/39/33) documents the discrimination and some of the challenges for young people in accessing civil, political, social, economic and cultural rights. Examples include: participation in political institutions and decision-making; access to the world of work and be granted decent and protected working conditions and wages; access to health.

Young people from across the world are also often engaged in environmental protection and climate disobedience. Young environmental human rights defenders who promote human rights relating to the environment, including water, air, land, flora and fauna, are highly vulnerable and under attack across the globe. Evidence suggests that as the climate crisis intensifies, violence against EHRDs also increases, whether through assaults, murders, intimidation, harassment, stigmatization, and criminalization. A human-rights-based approach and more protection for young people protecting their environment and future are in constant need of reinforcement.

International Youth Day

In 1999, the United Nations General Assembly endorsed the recommendation by the World Conference of Ministers of Youth (Lisbon, 8-12 August 1998) that 12 August be declared International Youth Day (A/RES/54/120). Over the last two decades of International Youth Day celebrations, several innovative and timely themes have been explored, including mental health, intergenerational solidarity, safe spaces for youth and civic engagement.

2024 Theme | From Clicks to Progress: Youth Digital Pathways for Sustainable Development

Digitalization is transforming our world, offering unprecedented opportunities to accelerate sustainable development. Digital technologies such as mobile devices, services, and artificial intelligence are instrumental in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Data generated from digital interactions supports evidence-based decision-making. With profound impact across economic, social and environmental dimensions, digital technologies and data contribute to at least 70 per cent of the 169 SDG targets while potentially reducing the cost of achieving these goals by up to USD 55 trillion.

Young people are leading the charge in digital adoption and innovation, with three-quarters of those aged 15 to 24 using the internet in 2022, a rate higher than other age groups. However, disparities persist, particularly in low-income countries and among young women, who often have less access to the internet and digital skills compared to their male counterparts. While there is an urgent need to enhance digital inclusion, youth are largely recognized as “digital natives,” using technology to drive change and create solutions. As the 2030 deadline for the SDGs approaches, the role of young people in digital innovation is essential for addressing global issues.

By celebrating the digital contributions of youth, we can inspire further innovation and collaboration towards achieving sustainable development.

For the observance of International Youth Day 2024, UN DESA collaborates with key partners, including International Telecommunication Union (ITU), UN-Habitat, and UN Internet Governance Forum (IGF). Together, these partnerships will highlight the transformative potential of youth-driven digital solutions in advancing sustainable development.

Events

Previous Observations

2023 | Green Skills for Youth: Towards a Sustainable World The shift towards an environmentally sustainable and climate-friendly world is critical not only for responding to the global climate crisis but also for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A successful transition towards a greener world will depend on the development of green skills in the population. Green skills are “knowledge, abilities, values and attitudes needed to live in, develop and support a sustainable and resource-efficient society”. These include technical knowledge and skills that enable the effective use of green technologies and processes in occupational settings, as well as transversal skills that draw on a range of knowledge, values and attitudes to facilitate environmentally sustainable decisions in work and in life. Due to their interdisciplinary nature, the essence of green skills is sometimes expressed, partly if not wholly, through other associated terms such as “skills for the future” and “skills for green jobs”. While green skills are relevant for people of all ages, they have heightened importance for younger people, who can contribute to the green transition for a longer period of time. Despite the growing recognition ofthe relevance of green skills, the available evidence suggests a shortage of such skills among young people. The skills gap represents an obstacle for young people to participate in a world of work that is shifting towards a green economy. If current trends persist, by 2030 more than 60 percent of young people may lack the skills required to thrive in the green economy. The 2023 edition of International Youth Day will focus on green skills for youth, highlighting initiatives at the global and national levels, discussing relevant opportunities and challenges, and offering forward looking policy guidance. For the official commemoration of International Youth Day 2023, DESA will organize a global webinar in collaboration with the UN Global Initiative on Decent Jobs for Youth and Generation Unlimited on 12 August 2023. Geneva Celebrations of International Youth Day International Youth Day 2023 | Green Skills for Youth: Towards a Sustainable World | 15 August 2023 | International Trade Center, World Intellectual Property Organization & Sidley

Inclusion of Youth in UN Processes

Since the UN launched the International Youth Year in 1985, the inclusion and participation of young people in UN processes have progressively increased and improved. At the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, parties recognized that achieving sustainable development requires the active participation of all sectors of society and all types of people. As a result, Agenda 21, formalized nine sectors and rightsholder groups of society as the main channels through which broad participation would be facilitated in UN activities related to sustainable development. These are most commonly referred to as “Major Groups and other Stakeholders”.

In 1995, on the tenth anniversary of International Youth Year, the UN strengthened its commitment to young people by adopting an international strategy — the World Programme of Action for Youth to the Year 2000 and Beyond.

Young people’s interventions in environmental-related processes and negotiations have become historic for their framing of adults’ lack of action and their failure to preserve the planet for current and future generations, leaving such responsibility to young people themselves.

15-year-old activist Greta Thunberg speaks at the UN Climate Change COP24 Conference in Katowice in 2018.

Youth @ UNEA

Children and youth are among the Major Groups accredited to UNEP and the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA). Currently, 51 organizations from across the world can get directly involved with UNEP. Children and Youth Major Group to UNEP (MGCY) is the official participation mechanism for children and youth and children-/ and youth-led organizations in UNEA. The group creates working groups on leading topics of the UNEA and consults children and youth globally in order to assess their opinion on the topics negotiated. These positions are then transformed into position papers which are submitted to the member states as well as oral interventions during the negotiations. UNEP MGCY prepares negotiations internally and sends a group of representatives to UNEA and most CPR and CPR Subcommittee meetings in order to represent children and youth voices.

In preparations to the Sixth Session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-6), UNEP MGCY provided inputs to the ministerial declaration to be adopted at the session.

Youth Environment Assembly

Since 2020, the Children and Youth Major Group of UNEP organizes the Youth Environment Assembly. Taking place in the run-up and/or as part of the UNEA, the Assembly comprises sessions on a variety of environmental topics, interactive segments, regional and thematic breakouts, dedicated plenary sessions and high-level segments featuring dialogues between environment ministers and youth. As outcome of the Global Youth Environment Assembly 2024, the CYMG released the Global Youth Declaration on Environment 2024.

Youth @ Stockholm+50

The Stockholm+5o international meeting gathered over 300 young people from all over the world and saw the participation of more than 700 in the Youth Task Force to Stockholm+50, which worked on the preparations to the meeting. After meeting with the UN Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen, the Youth Task Force agreed to the Global Youth Policy Paper. It demands governments to focus on actions for a healthy planet, COVID-19 recovery, the environmental dimension of sustainable development, and ensuring inclusive decision-making. An event organized by the International Labour Organization (ILO), UNEP, and the UN International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), focused on boosting green jobs and green, employable skills in key countries and high-impact sectors announced the creation of the Green Jobs for Youth Pact, later established at the Climate Change COP27 in November 2022.

Youth @ Conference on Biological Diversity

The Secretariat of the Conference on Biological Diversity (CBD) invites youth and children in participating to the presentation, protection and restoration of biodiversity. Even prior to the establishment of the Global Youth Biodiversity Network in 2012, young people have participated and contributed to CBD’s conferences of the parties. COP11 Decision XI/8 formally recognized the importance of youth participation in the decision-making process at all levels. Youth actively participated in the first and second part of the UN Biodiversity Conference (2021-2022).

Among other activities, young delegates led a Youth Summit, a Youth Day, a youth hub in Place Quebec, side-events, exhibitions, marches and caucuses to coordinate young’s people views on the CBD negotiations including on the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

Youth @ Climate COPs

Young people’s participation in Climate Change Conferences of the Parties started to become more institutionalized since COP10 in Buenos Aires when young people came together as an “organized caucus” for the first time drafting a declaration that called for “the recognition of a Youth Constituency Group within the COP in order to assure youth participation, in line with other groups such as businesses, indigenous people and environmental organizations.” Since COP11, young people constituencies (officially YOUNGO) have organized Conferences of Youth (COY) ahead of COPs. Built on four major components of policy document; capacity building; skill-building workshops; and cultural exchange. Youth at UNFCCC Conferences also portray in Young and Future Generations Day; High-Level Youth Briefings; UN Youth Booth and more. For the first time at COP27, youth was mentioned 11 times in the Sharm el-Sheikh implementation plan. These articles recognized the important role of children and youth as agents of change in addressing and responding to the climate crisis, and encouraged parties to include them both in their processes for designing and implementing climate policy at a national and international levels and in national delegations attending climate negotiations. This was also the first time as well that COP appointed a Youth Envoy. → Dubai Youth Climate Dialogue during COP28 highlights young peoples’ priorities for climate action

Chemicals and Waste Youth Platform

The Chemical and Waste Youth Platform (CWYP), operationalized in 2021 aims at engaging youth in the design, implementation, monitoring, follow-up and review of chemicals and waste agenda policies at all levels. Gathering youth organizations from across the world, the CWYP represents the collective voice of young people working towards a healthier, toxic-free world. The consistency takes to various chemicals and waste-related negotiations and conferences of the parties, including the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions COPs, the and will participate to the International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM5) held in September 2023 in Bonn, Germany as its First Youth Delegation. In the context of ICCM5, the Chemical and Waste Youth Platform hosted a one-day Youth Forum on 27 September, featuring the launch of the “Global Youth Declaration on Chemicals and Waste.”

Establishment of the CITES Global Youth Network

At its 17th meeting (CoP17; Johannesburg, 2016), the Conference of the Parties to the CITES Convention adopted Resolution Conf 17.5 (Rev. CoP18) on Youth Engagement, encouraging broader engagement with youth.

The inaugural CITES Global Youth Summit was held in Singapore from 27 to 31 May 2025. Empowering the next generation of wildlife trade decision-makers, 56 national CITES authorities and Observer organizations nominated 76 participants who attended the summit from 53 countries, representing all six CITES regions. Attendees included young scientists, rangers, lawyers, conservationists, and advocates—reflecting a broad range of disciplines and expertise essential to advancing the CITES mission to ensure the sustainability, legality and traceability of international wildlife trade.

Guides for Youth Participation

UN Envoy on Youth

The Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth was established in 2013 when Ahmad Alhendawi of Jordan was appointed as the first holder of the mandate. The mandate of the UN Envoy on Youth builds off the UN SG vision and strategy Youth 2030 and is focused on three main pillars: 1) Increasing youth participation in the Inter-Governmental Space; 2) Realizing the potential of the young people within the UN system; and 3) Engagement and mobilization of young people. The current mandate holder is Jayathma Wickramanayake of Sri Lanka, appointed by the UNSG in 2017. In a Resolution adopted on 8 September 2022 (A/RES/76/306), the General Assembly decided to establish the United Nations Youth Office as a dedicated office for youth affairs in the Secretariat, integrating the Office of the Envoy of the Secretary-General on Youth, following the completion of necessary steps.

UN Secretary-General’s Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change

The UNSG Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change was established with the selection of the first cohort in 2020. During their two-year mandate, young people aged from 15 to 29 selected from a pool of candidates nominated by youth- and climate-focused non-governmental and civil society organizations around the world, support the UNSG with practical and outcome-focused advice, diverse youth perspectives and concrete recommendations, with a clear focus on accelerating the implementation of his climate action agenda. The current cohort started its two-year term on 16 March 2023 and is composed by seven inspirational young individuals.

Youth and the SDGs

Young people are targeted by various Sustainable Development Goals, especially SDG4 on quality education; SDG5 on gender equality; SDG8 on decent work and economic growth; SDG10 on reducing inequality; SDG13 on climate action; and SDG16 on peace, justice and strong institutions. To monitor and measure the state of youth in the SDGs the UN Office of Information, Communication, Technology (OICT) and Qlik, developed the Youth SDG Dashboard data visualization platform. The 2021 report “Believe in Better: From Policy to Practice”, developed by the UN Youth Envoy in partnership with ActionAid Denmark, demonstrates how the UN currently works with young people so that they are meaningfully and actively included in decision-making spaces at multiple levels of governance, and provides a snapshot of insights and data, into how young people are organizing, included, and responded to by those in positions of power.

Young people play a key role in the shaping of the SDG agenda and in their implementation. As early as 2016, the Young Leaders for the SDGs initiative was launched. Every two years, a group of 17 young people from all over the world are selected for their agency, courage and ingenuity in finding lasting solutions to the world’s greatest challenges. Under the coordination of the UN Envoy on Youth, these young leaders contribute to the achievement of the SDGs in accessible and innovative ways and support the UN’s efforts to mobilize young people.

Summit of the Future

The Summit of the Future is a high-level event that will bring world leaders together to forge a new international consensus on how we deliver a better present and safeguard the future. It represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to mend eroded trust and demonstrate that international cooperation can effectively tackle current and potential challenges. In the words of the UN Secretary-General, the importance and the role of youth in the Summit of the Future is an essential component of its success:

Youth are key to identifying new solutions that will secure the breakthroughs that our world urgently needs. As future custodians of the planet, they also stand to lose the most if societies become more insecure and unequal and if the triple planetary crisis continues unabated. In recent years, young people have become a driving force for societal change through social mobilization – pushing for climate action, seeking racial justice, promoting gender equality and demanding dignity for all. There have also been countless examples of young people driving innovative change in a host of arenas, such as in business, technology and science. When it comes to participation in public policymaking and decision-making, however, youth remain almost invisible. […] Key recommendations call Member States to: a) Expand and strengthen youth participation in decision-making at all levels;

b) Make meaningful youth engagement a requirement in all United Nations decision-making processes;

c) Support the establishment of a standing United Nations Youth Townhall and an integrated programme from the United Nations system to facilitate greater diversity, representativeness, and preparedness in youth participation.

Role of Geneva

Beyond Lab

The Beyond Lab at UN Geneva engages youth, facilitating their participation in multi-stakeholder and intergenerational dialogues. For instance, the Lab has mapped new sustainability values, identifying global youth priorities for long-term sustainability. Additionally, the Lab brings marginalized topics and people to the centre of dialogues, as we believe it’s crucial to create space for diversity now as we envision a future that includes everyone, embracing multiple, coexisting futures instead of a single, conventional one.

Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)

The CITES Global Youth Network (CGYN) was established in 2024 after the meetings of the CITES Youth Leadership Programme in Singapore. CGYN aims to provide a platform for knowledge sharing and networking for youths to better understand the intricacies of wildlife trade from an early stage.

Child Rights Connect

Child Rights Connect is a global network of 86 international and national non-governmental organizations committed to ensuring that all children fully enjoy their rights. Under its network, the Working Group on Children’s Rights and the Environment aims to promote children’s right to a healthy and sustainable environment.

Group on Earth Observations (GEO)

The Group on Earth Observations (GEO) values youth contributions and is committed to making their voices heard and supporting their actions to make a difference through Earth observations. Through the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT), a GEO participating organization, the GEO Secretariat supported YouthMappers in Africa and sponsored their participation at the GEO Plenary in Kyoto. Youth involvement has included mentoring the Water Youth Network and young Earth observation specialists, and promoting the use of Earth observations at the ISPRS Student Consortium. Since 2018, the GEO community has mentored hundreds of youth from around the world through annual Indigenous Hackathons tailored to underrepresented communities. The GEO community invites young people to contribute to improving the availability, access, and use of Earth observations for a sustainable planet. GEO organized its first youth track in parallel to GEO Week 2021 under the theme ‘accelerating action with youth’. At the 2023 GEO weeks, GEO youth presented the first GEO Youth Declaration.

International Labour Organization (ILO)

The International Labour Organization (ILO), together with UNEP and UNICEF launched the Green Jobs for Youth Pact at the end of 2022. ILO, UNEP, and UNICEF will work alongside their member states, employers, workers organizations and educators to tackle the youth and green jobs deficit, address the green skills gap in developing countries, focusing on sectors that are vulnerable to climate change and pushing for systemic change that benefits people, the planet, and prosperity.

International Trade Center (ITC)

ITC’s Youth and Trade Programme promotes youth entrepreneurship in developing countries. It supports young people in the development of their business and employability skills, which in turn improves their access to quality jobs with decent work conditions and increases their income. The programme also contributes to SDG 4 on Quality Education, by ensuring that more young people are equipped with the skills needed in today’s market, and to the SDG on Decent Work and Inclusive Growth.

International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) values young people for their help and engagement, unique perspectives and fresh ideas as well as their expertise to address the global challenges humanity is facing. In 2021, it hosted the virtual IUCN One Nature, One Future Global Youth Summit. The Summit strengthened connections between young leaders and their existing global networks, encouraged interdisciplinary learning, provided a space for broader storytelling on conservation, and added momentum to growing youth movements for nature and climate. Youth from around the world were invited to participate in youth-led capacity-building workshops, networking events, and contribute to an outcome document to be delivered to IUCN’s World Conservation Congress in 2021. In 2022, IUCN revised its Youth Strategy and adopted the 2022-2030 Youth Strategy, which aims to embed young people’s perspectives, inclusion and empowerment in all parts and at all levels of the Union. April 2024 marked the historic official launch of IUCN’s Youth Advisory Committee, or YAC, which supports the implementation of the IUCN Youth Strategy across the Union.

Geneva Graduate Institute Environmental Committee

The Geneva Graduate Institute Environmental Committee is the students’ environmental association that brings together students interested in sustainability and environmental issues to give voice to these issues within the Institute. All students are encouraged to get involved, regardless of program, semester or level of experience.

J’aime ma Planète

J’aime ma Planète is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the environment and promoting sustainable living. It targets and supports young people through environmental and sustainability education programs and activities in schools. Since 2015, J’aime ma Planète has been the Swiss representative of the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), which with members in 81 countries is the world’s largest environmental education organization.

Minamata Convention on Mercury

The Secretariat is developing tangible pathways for stronger youth engagement within the Minamata Convention on Mercury framework, including promoting youth initiatives that are part of the solution to tackle toxic mercury. The Youth Dialogue (YD) is an initiative of the Ministry of the Environment, Japan (MOEJ). The programme started in 2022 to encourage a dialogue among youths from Minamata and other youths around the world to share their message and lessons learned about their experience with mercury and to learn from each other. Multiple planetGOLD project teams have developed a strategy of targeting awareness raising efforts at children and educators in an effort to break the intergenerational cycle of mercury use in artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) activities.

Save the Children, Geneva Advocacy Office

Save the Children’s Geneva Advocacy Office continues to seek to secure positive and lasting change in children’s lives through child-rights advocacy and influencing of global policy discussions and processes. They engage Save the Children national offices, partners and children themselves in key discussions and mechanisms relating to humanitarian crises, human rights, health and migration, so that children are at the heart of decision-making and global policies are child-centric.

Swiss Youth for Climate (SYFC)

Swiss Youth for Climate was established in 2015 as a non-partisan association, aiming to give space to the youth in the political debate on climate change. SYFC has regional groups in six cities in Switzerland, including in Geneva, they conduct national political projects, and they participate to international climate negotiations. Swiss Youth for Climate has for objectives to advocate for pragmatic, responsible, and ambitious climate policies at the national and international levels; to raise awareness about the emergency of the climate crisis and about the importance of local and global actions; to mobilize the population, in particular the young generation, in favor of the ecological transition; to take part in international climate conferences as Swiss civil society representatives.

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)

The UNECE ESD Youth Platform was set up to provide input to the UNECE steering committee on Education for Sustainable Development. The platform is currently developing future strategies that reflect what young people want and map out the different youth engagement possibilities within the system. In the Framework for the implementation of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Strategy for Education for Sustainable Development from 2021 to 2030 launched in 2022, emphasis is put on the need to improve education vis-à-vis the triple planetary crisis; ensure youth actively participate and is engaged in the different levels of decision-making that directly and indirectly affects them; and on the need for intergenerational dialogue. To further strengthen the meaningful participation of young people to help address sustainability challenges, in May 2023 UNECE established the Europe Youth Task Force on Education for Sustainable Development, pending the finalization of formal documents. The Task Force builds upon the work previously conducted by the Ad-hoc group on youth linked to the ESD Steering Committee.

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) – Europe Office

UNEP recognizes the importance of working with and for young people and develops its programs in an effort to foster meaningful youth participation. The formal youth engagement in UNEP processes and activities began in 2003 with the TUNZA Youth Strategy, coming from the Kiswahili word “to treat with care or affection”. The overall Tunza Concept aimed to create a global movement in which children and Youth will actively participate in sustainable development. The TUNZA initiative is meant to develop activities in the areas of capacity building, environmental awareness, and information exchange, with a vision to foster a generation of environmentally conscious citizens, capable of positive action.

In 2012, following a process of internal restructuring within UNEP processes, UNEP Children and Youth Major Group (MGCY)came into existence and was formalized in 2013-2014. As the formal youth engagement mechanism to UNEP, this youth-led and independent constituency advocates for inclusion, empowerment and meaningful engagement of young people in environmental processes, especially those of UNEP and UNEAs. Since 2020, the MGCY to UNEP organized the Youth Environment Assembly in the run-up to the UNEA.

Platforms and initiatives across UNEP have given relevant roles to young people, developing meaningful engagement in the environmental space. The Young Champions of the Earth aims to celebrate and support individuals aged between 18 and 30 who have outstanding potential to create a positive environmental impact. Every year, winners receive seed funding, intensive training and tailored mentoring to bring their big environmental ideas to life. In March 2023, UNEP in partnership with the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme, launched the Young Talent Pipeline, a new initiative aimed at increasing the diversity of experiences and solutions to solve the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature loss and pollution and waste.

University of Geneva Etudiant-e-s pour le Développement Durable (EDD)

Etudiant-e-s pour le Développement Durable or students for sustainable development is a student association of the University of Geneva that aim to sensibilize the University community to environmental issues. With the support of the University of Geneva and the Geneva Graduate Insitute, the EDD organize yearly the Semaine de la Durabilité (Sustainability Week), offering multiple activities, conferences and seminars around the topic of sustainability.

The Earth Foundation

The Earth Foundation was founded in 2020 in Geneva to inspire, educate, mentor, and empower students, schools, researchers, and young entrepreneurs with innovative ideas to tackle environmental challenges. It takes enthusiastic youth and inspire, educate, mentor, and empower it to effect real change and hopefully, in turn, embolden the following generation. The foundation hosts the Earth Prize, a global environmental sustainability competition for students between the ages of 13 and 19, which rewards the teams whose projects have the most potential to address environmental issues.

World Health Organization (WHO)

WHO recognizes and involves youth as partners, stakeholders and changemakers in its work and is committed to engaging with youth in many different ways through various initiatives. The Youth Council brings together youth networks from health and non-health backgrounds from all over the world to provide advice to the WHO Director-General on global health and other health and development issue. The Global Health Workforce Network (GWHN) Youth Hub is an interprofessional community of practice working to systematically include youth health workforce issues related to employment, practice and the work environment in the health and social care sector. The Global Youth Mobilization, which empowers young people to driving change and implement solutions in the post-COVID-19 recovery. The Global Model WHO, organized in collaboration withthe World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA) provides an authentic student-led simulation of the World Health Assembly (WHA) to high school and university students from all over the world. The WHO Briefing Centre provides an educational service to students and young professionals from a variety of disciplines through interactive briefing sessions (face-to-face or virtual) on public health topics. WHO Youth Delegate Program allows the inclusion of youth delegates in a Member State’s official delegation so that young people can participate in global health governance as a formally accredited member of a Member State’s official delegation to a WHO high-level meeting.

World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

WIPO engagement with youth spaces from organization of webinars, ad hoc guides and initiatives. In 2020, WIPO GREEN launched Young and Green, an initiative to give enhanced visibility to young eco-entrepreneurs and innovators.

World Meteorological Organization (WMO)

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) set up a parallel website WMO for Youth where information about its activities and meteorology are rendered more easily accessible for young people and where it is possible for youth to share stories about their interest in the subject and work of the WMO. Recognizing the strong stake that young people have in the future, WMO chose “Weather and climate: engaging youth” as the theme for the 2014 World Meteorological Day.

WWF Geneva

WWF Youth offers young people aged from 14 to 25 volunteering experiences granting real hands-on experience in the environment, project management, communication, etc, learning from professionals and people active in the environment. For people aged 13 to 18, the Pandaction allows participating in Nature Camps and plenty of other events around environmental themes.

GEN Events

Photo Credit: ICAN/Lucero Oyarzun. As part of the Fridays for Future school strikes, youth protest for climate action in Geneva in 2019.

Human rights and the environment are intrinsically intertwined: a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment is essential in the enjoyment of our human rights; whilst polluted, hazardous and otherwise unhealthy environments potentially violate our human rights.

Environmental rights means any proclamation of a human right to environmental conditions of a specified quality. This means that they are not abstract, remote, irrelevant concepts; they are measurable, prominent and functional aspects of society and its ecology. More than 100 countries incorporate constitutional rights to a healthy environment. When environmental rights are violated, people and the planet suffer from reduced health and well-being.

On 28 July 2022, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a resolution declaring that everyone on the planet has a right to a healthy environment. This landmark decision is the result of decades of mobilization of various stakeholders. The resolution, based on a similar text adopted in October 2021 by the Human Rights Council, calls upon States, international organizations, and business enterprises to scale up efforts to ensure a healthy environment for all.

Environment @ HRC59 The 59th Regular Session of the Human Rights Council (HRC59) will take place in Geneva from 16 June to 11 July 2025. Consult this regularly-updated page that highlighted the environmental-related activities of this session.

The Role of International Geneva

Geneva is the main international hub on human rights issues and the majority of international universal human rights organs are based here.

United Nations Human Rights Council

The United Nations Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations system made up of 47 States responsible for the promotion and protection of all human rights around the globe. It has the ability to discuss all thematic human rights issues and situations that require its attention throughout the year. The UN Human Rights Council meets at the UN Office at Geneva.

Past HRC Sessions

Environment @ HRC58 | Environment @ HRC57 | Environment @ HRC56 | Environment @ HRC55 | Environment @ HRC54 | Environment @ HRC53 | Environment @ HRC52 | Environment @ HRC51 | Environment @ HRC50 | Environment @ HRC49 | Environment @ HRC48 | Environment @ HRC47 | Environment @ HRC46 | Environment @ HRC45 | Environment @ HRC44 | Environment @ HRC43

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is the leading UN entity on human rights and represent the world’s commitment to the promotion and protection of the full range of human rights and freedoms set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. OHCHR is home for secretariats of international human rights treaty bodies and the UN Human Rights Council.

Volker Türk is the High Commissioner for Human Rights, often known as the UN human rights chief.

Treaty Bodies

The human rights treaty bodies are committees of independent experts that monitor implementation of the core international human rights treaties. Each State party to a treaty has an obligation to take steps to ensure that everyone in the State can enjoy the rights set out in the treaty.

Currently, there 10 treaty bodies that are established by nine human rights international treaties and one optional protocol . The treaty bodies are composed of independent experts of recognized competence in human rights, who are nominated and elected for fixed renewable terms of four years by State parties.

Recently, UN human rights experts also welcomed the impending entry into force of the first environmental human rights treaty in Latin America and the Caribbean, known as the Escazú Agreement, lauding it as a ground-breaking pact to fight pollution and secure a healthy environment. The Escazú Agreement also includes strong protections for Indigenous Peoples and environmental human rights defenders, at a time when they are subject to unprecedented levels of violence.

Universal Periodic Review

The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a unique process which involves a review of the human rights records of all UN Member States. The UPR is a State-driven process, under the auspices of the Human Rights Council, which provides the opportunity for each State to declare what actions they have taken to improve the human rights situations in their countries and to fulfill their human rights obligations.

Aarhus Convention

The Aarhus Convention on access to information, public participation and access to justice in environmental matters, hosted by UNECE, is also devoting a part of its work on the protection of environmental defenders. The Escazú convention in Latin America is working in the same direction.

Special Rapporteurs

Special Procedures

There are other types of bodies on human rights such as the Special Procedures who are independent human rights experts with mandates to report and advise on human rights from a thematic or country-specific perspective.

Special procedure mandate-holders are non-paid and elected for 3-year mandates that can be renewed for another term. They help advance human rights, focusing on different themes, some of which are related to the environment.

Special Rapporteur on the human right to a healthy environment Astrid Puentes is the current Special Rapporteur on the human right to a healthy environment with the following mandate: Examine the human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment

Promote best practices of the use of human rights in environmental policymaking

Identify challenges and obstacles to the global recognition and implementation of the right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment

Conduct country visits and respond to human rights violations

Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes Marcos A. Orellana is the current Special Rapporteur on hazardous substances and wastes (i.e. toxics). The Special Rapporteur is an independent expert appointed by the Human Rights Council and undertakes the following main tasks: Conduct research and analysis to be presented in separate thematic reports to the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly;

Undertake country visits and reporting on the situation in those countries in relation to the concerns of the mandate;

Send letters to governments, business enterprises and other relevant entities regarding the actual or potential exposure of people to hazardous substances and wastes, and other related implications, such as those related to the lack of information, participation and access to remedies.

Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change Elisa Morgera is the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change with the following mandate: Study and identify how the adverse effects of climate change, affect the full and effective enjoyment of human rights

Identify existing challenges, including financial challenges, of States’ efforts

Synthesize knowledge, including indigenous and local traditional knowledge, and identify good practices, strategies and policies

Promote and exchange views on lessons learned and best practices

Raise awareness on the human rights affected by climate change, especially of persons living in developing countries particularly vulnerable

Facilitate and contribute to the exchange of technical assistance, capacity-building and international cooperation in support of national efforts

Integrate a gender-responsive, age-sensitive, disability inclusive and social-inclusion perspective

Work closely with States and relevant stakeholders, including business enterprises to adopt a human rights perspective At the 48th session of the Human Rights Council in October 2021, the Human Rights Council adopted a resolution establishing the mandate of a Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change (resolution 48/14). Thanks to the efforts of the core group behind resolution 47/24, the possibility of creating a new special procedure addressing the adverse impact of climate change was placed on the agenda of the Council, and was adopted with 42 votes in favor, 1 against and 4 abstentions.

Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation Pedro Arrojo-Agudo is the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation with the following mandate: Focus on the issue of human rights obligations related to access to safe drinking water and sanitation;

Carry out thematic research

Undertake country missions

Collect good practices

Work with development practitioners on the implementation of the rights to water and sanitation On 28 July 2010, through Resolution 64/292, the United Nations General Assembly explicitly recognized the human rights to water and sanitation and acknowledged that clean drinking water and sanitation are essential to the realization of all human rights. The Resolution calls upon States and international organisations to provide financial resources, help capacity-building and technology transfer to help countries, in particular developing countries, to provide safe, clean, accessible and affordable drinking water and sanitation for all.

Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Mary Lawlor is the current Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders with the following mandate: Promote the effective implementation of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders in cooperation and dialogue with Governments and other actors

Study developments and challenges on the right to promote and protect human rights and seek, receive and respond to information on the situation of human rights defenders

Recommend effective strategies to better protect human rights defenders

Integrate a gender perspective and pay particular attention to women human rights defenders In 2019, a resolution was adopted by consensus at the Human Right Council about the protection of the people who are acting for the environment. It has been followed by a roadmap to see how, at the international level, researchers, academics, states and civil society can join forces in order to make sure that the growing trends of attack against people who are defending the environment including official governmental civil servants, rangers and people from the civil society.

Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples In 2001, the Commission on Human Rights decided to appoint a Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, as part of the system of thematic Special Procedures. The Special Rapporteur’s mandate was renewed by the Commission on Human Rights in 2004, and by the Human Rights Council in 2007. It was most recently renewed in 2019 in resolution 42/20. Albert K. Barume was appointed Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples in March 2020 and took up the role on 1 May 2020. The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples was created to: Promote good practices, including new laws, government programs, and constructive agreements between Indigenous Peoples and states, to implement international standards concerning the rights of Indigenous Peoples;

Make recommendations and proposals on appropriate measures to prevent and remedy violations of the rights of Indigenous Peoples;

Report on the human rights situations of Indigenous Peoples around the world;

Address specific cases of alleged violations of Indigenous Peoples’ rights.

Right to a Clean, Healthy, and Sustainable Environment

What is the right to a healthy environment?

The adoption by the General Assembly (GA), the principal policy-making body of the UN, of the resolution recognizing the human right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment marked a landmark moment which has sent a powerful message that there is widespread, worldwide support for this right – which is already recognized in 156 countries at the national and regional levels.

The resolution on the right to a healthy environment was the result of States’ commitment on environmental issues, many years of advocacy and collaboration by national human rights institutions, civil society organizations, Indigenous Peoples, children and young people, and business actors, among others, and supported by UN entities. Putting rights at the centre of addressing the triple planetary crisis – climate change, biodiversity and nature loss, and pollution – is more important now than ever and an imperative for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

What are the elements of the right to a healthy environment? While there is not a universally agreed definition of the right to a healthy environment, the right is generally understood to include substantive and procedural elements. The substantive elements include: clean air;

a safe and stable 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. The procedural elements include: access to information,

the right to participate in decision-making,

and access to justice and effective remedies, including the secure exercise of these rights free from reprisals and retaliation. Realizing the right to a healthy environment also requires international cooperation, solidarity and equity in environmental action, including resource mobilization, as well as recognition of extraterritorial jurisdiction over human rights harms caused by environmental degradation.

A Historic Resolution at the Human Rights Council

An appeal to the Human Rights Council to recognize without delay the right of all to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment was shared with all member states ahead of HRC45. This appeal, entitled “The Time Is Now“, has been signed by more than 1,150 organizations from civil society, social, environmental, youth, gender equality and human rights movements, trade unions, Indigenous Peoples, and local communities, from more than 100 countries. The call was conveyed at HRC46 in a joint NGO statement.

On 9 March 2021, over 60 nations urged the HRC to recognize the right to a healthy environment, moving a step closer towards adding a new universal human right that also benefits the planet to the list. Simultaneously, the UN Environment Programme delivered a joint statement on behalf of 15 UN entities calling for global recognition, implementation, and protection of the human right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment.

At the 48th session of the Human Rights Council, in October 2021, States recognized, for the first time, that having a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is a human right. Resolution A/HRC/48/13 forwarded by the core group on Human Rights and the Environment – Costa Rica, Maldives, Morocco, Slovenia and Switzerland – was adopted with 43 votes in favor and 4 abstentions.

UN special rapporteur on human rights and environment David Boyd has called the HRC’s recognition of the human right to a healthy environment a historic breakthrough that has the potential to improve the life of everyone on the planet.

The world’s future looks a little bit brighter today. The United Nations, in an historical development, has for the first time recognised that everyone, everywhere, has a human right to live in a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment. Read full article →

A Historic Resolution at the UN General Assembly

On 28 July 2022, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring that everyone on the planet has a right to a healthy environment. This landmark decision (A/RES/76/300), co-sponsored by 117 member States, is the result of decades of mobilization of various stakeholders. The resolution, based on a similar text adopted in October 2021 by the Human Rights Council, calls upon States, international organizations, and business enterprises to scale up efforts to ensure a healthy environment for all. → See countries’ positions

Today is a historic moment, but simply affirming our right to a healthy environment is not enough. The General Assembly resolution is very clear: States must implement their international commitments and scale up their efforts to realize it. We will all suffer much worse effects from environmental crises, if we do not work together to collectively avert them now.

– Michelle Bachelet, 28 July 2022

Recognition in Other Bodies

Council of Europe

In a Recommendation on human rights and the protection of the environment adopted on 27 September 2022, the Council of Europe calls on its 46 member states to actively consider recognising, at national level, the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, as a human right. → Read the resolution

Geneva Rights and Environment Talks

The Special Rapporteur on the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment reports to the Human Rights Council during its March session on issues related to their mandate. The Geneva Rights and Environment Talks aim to harness the opportunity of this moment of the year to reflect on the challenges posed by the rapid decline of nature and biodiversity, and on how Geneva contributes to bringing together the actors working towards ensuring the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment is upheld for all.

Pollution, Hazardous Substances, and Human Rights

Though integral to almost all sectors of society, the lack of environmentally sound management of chemicals and waste can have long-lasting negative impacts on human health, society, and on the environment. Such negative impacts violate our human right to live in a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. Stakeholders, particularly States and businesses, must ensure that this right is upheld when conducting activities and operations on the ground.

Advancing the Right to Live in a Non-toxic Environment and the Role of Geneva

Highlighting the role stakeholders from International Geneva as a global hub for the governance of hazardous substances, learn how they are actively working to reduce the environmental and health risks from chemicals, including their human rights implications.

Geneva Toxic Free Talks

The Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights reports every Fall to the Council and to the UN General Assembly on issues related to their mandate. The Geneva Toxic Free Talks aim to harness the opportunity of this moment of the year to reflect on the challenges posed by the production, use and dissemination of toxics and on how Geneva contributes to bringing together the actors working in reversing the toxic tide.

On the sidelines of HRC57, the 2024 edition of the Toxic Free Talks will take place from 16 to 19 September 2024, with conferences and discussions, highlighting the work of the Special Rapporteur and of organizations in the struggle for the right to live in a toxic-free environment.

Climate Change and Human Rights

Climate change is one of the greatest existential threats for people and the planet. Its harmful effects undermine the full enjoyment and realization of all human rights, posing a serious risk to the fundamental rights to life, health, food and an adequate standard of living of individuals and communities across the world and disproportionately affecting those who are already in situations of vulnerability.

Advancing Rights-based Climate Action and the Role of Geneva

Referred to as the world capital for multilateralism and home to numerous international organizations, permanent missions, non-governmental organizations and other institutions based in Geneva that place climate issues at the center of their work, Geneva is at the center of numerous debates and negotiations, including cross-disciplinary expertise and discussions on human rights and climate change. Placing human rights at the heart of climate action, International Geneva is mobilized in the fight against climate change. Consult the page sharing how several Geneva-based stakeholders that advance the work on human rights and climate change.

Geneva Rights and Climate Talks

The Special Rapporteur on human rights and climate change reports to the Human Rights Council during its June session on issues related to her mandate. The Geneva Rights and Climate Talks aim to harness the opportunity of this moment of the year to reflect on the challenges posed by the impacts of climate change, and on how Geneva contributes to bringing together the actors working towards placing human rights at the heart of climate action.

Biodiversity and Human Rights

Biodiversity and human rights are closely interlinked. Without healthy, functioning ecosystems, which depend on healthy biodiversity, there would be no clean air to breathe, safe water to drink or nutritious food to eat. A healthy biodiversity and functioning ecosystems are essential for human societies. About half of the world’s GDP – about USD 44 trillion – is dependent on natural resources, while nature provides at least USD 125 trillion worth of services annually. Nature also “underpins all dimensions of human health and contributes to non-material aspects of quality of life”, as indicated by the report, Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES, 2019).

Human Rights-based Approach in Addressing Biodiversity Loss

In the same manner, the loss of biodiversity has severe consequences for human well-being and human rights. Disruptions in the stability and continuity of ecosystems and the goods and services they provide can negatively impact the full enjoyment of human rights, including the right to life, food, water and sanitation, health and to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment (A/HRC/34/49).

The recognition of the right to clean, healthy and sustainable environment by the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/Res/48/13) and the UN General Assembly (A/Res/76/300) is crucial to tackling the unprecedented biodiversity crisis that is threatening human well-being, human rights and the future of life on Earth. Learn how Geneva actors and stakeholders are advancing the human rights and biodiversity agenda.

Environmental Human Rights Defenders

Environmental human rights defenders are those who strive to protect and promote human rights relating to the environment. However, evidence suggests that they remain highly vulnerable and under attack across the globe. As the field of human rights obligations related to a clean, safe, healthy and sustainable environment expands, the need to protect those who protect our environmental rights also becomes more urgent.

According to the United Nations, environmental human rights defenders (EHRDs) are “individuals and groups who, in their personal or professional capacity and in a peaceful manner, strive to protect and promote human rights relating to the environment, including water, air, land, flora and fauna.”

Environmental defenders, many of whom are part of or represent Indigenous Peoples, remain highly vulnerable and under attack across the globe. Evidence suggests that as the climate crisis intensifies, violence against EHRDs also increases, whether through assaults, murders, intimidation, harassment, stigmatization, and criminalization.

As the field of human rights obligations related to a clean, safe, healthy and sustainable environment expands, the need to protect those who protect our environmental rights also becomes more urgent.

Business and Human Rights

Human rights and the environment are intrinsically intertwined due to the environmental nature of some human rights, which have been progressively more recognized and protected. If we are to tackle environmental challenges without leaving anyone behind, businesses must respect both the environment and environmental rights, and ensure they are not violated in their conduct of business operations and beyond..

As Geneva is the main international hub on human rights issues, where majority of international universal human rights organs are based, this update provides a brief overview on the connections among business, environment and human rights, and the role International Geneva plays in strengthening such links.

Human Rights Day | 10 December

Every year on 10 December, the world celebrates Human Rights Day, the day when, in 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Decades since this landmark occasion, human rights have become more recognized and more guaranteed across the globe. The UDHR has since served as the foundation for an expanding system of human rights protection that today focuses also on groups in vulnerable situations such as persons with disabilities, Indigenous Peoples and migrants.

However, the promise of the UDHR, of dignity and equality in rights, has been under a sustained assault in recent years. As the world faces challenges new and ongoing – pandemics, conflicts, exploding inequalities, morally bankrupt global financial system, racism, climate change – the values, and rights enshrined in the UDHR provide guideposts for our collective actions that do not leave anyone behind.

In the face of environmental degradation, including the triple crisis of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss, equality for all also means advancing the right to a healthy environment and climate justice. These impacts disproportionately impacts persons, groups and peoples in vulnerable situations, and exacerbate existing inequalities that negatively affect the human rights of present and future generations. As follow-up to the UN Human Rights Council and the UN General Assembly’s recognition of the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, International Geneva is taking urgent action to respect, protect and fulfill this right. Such action should be the cornerstone of a new human rights-based economy that will produce a green recovery from COVID-19 and a just transition.

Human Rights Day 2024 | Our Rights, Our Future, Right Now.

Human rights can empower individuals and communities to forge a better tomorrow. By embracing and trusting the full power of human rights as the path to the world we want, we can become more peaceful, equal and sustainable. This year’s Human Rights Day focuses on how human rights are a pathway to solutions, playing a critical role as a preventative, protective and transformative force for good.

Human rights impact everyone, every day. This campaign, Our Rights, Our Future, Right Now, will show the tangible impact of human rights by focusing on relevant global issues, showcasing impact, successes and practical solutions. This continues the forward-looking work of UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk’s vision statement, Human Rights: A Path for Solutions, presented as the wrap up to Human Rights 75, which commemorated the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

United Nations Environment Programme and Human Rights

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) works to advance the inclusive and effective implementation of environmental rights law through, protecting environmental defenders, strengthening legal frameworks, building capacities of relevant stakeholders and advancing universal recognition of the right to a healthy environment.

As environmental issues have grown within the work of the Human Rights Council, there has been an agreement between the High Commissioner and the Executive Director of UNEP. One of the outcomes of this close collaboration is the publication on the response to Covid called: “Human Rights, the Environment and Covid-19”. It gives the keys elements on how the environment and human rights are interlinked in what happened with Covid and also with the development of the Covid response.

UNEP and OHCHR Agreement

In 2019, UNEP and the OHCHR have prioritized efforts to promote and protect environmental and human rights with the signing of a new cooperation agreement. The heads of the two UN bodies agreed that although more than 150 countries have recognized the human right to a healthy environment in their constitutions, national laws and jurisprudence, or through regional agreements, significantly more work is needed to inform policy-makers, justice institutions and the public on the various ways they can take action to uphold this right.

Strengthened cooperation will aim to drive better protection of environmental human rights defenders and their families, who frequently face violence – including killings and sexual violence, smear campaigns, and other forms of intimidation. The partnership will also encourage greater acceptance by leaders and governments of the human right to a healthy environment pursuing efforts toward its global recognition. It will seek to increase support to national governments to promote human rights-based policies, particularly in terms of sustainable management of natural resources, development planning, and action to combat climate change.

To support the growing community of practice between the two entities, UNEP and OHCHR are compiling updates in the Environment Rights Bulletin. It showcases best practices related to processes at the country, regional and global levels of relevance to the human rights-environment nexus. The latest edition published in October 2021 provides global updates and resources, as well as a focused section on biodiversity prepared on the occasion of the opening of CBD COP15.

Human Rights & Environment @ UN General Assembly

At the 79th session of the UN General Assembly, various UN Special Rapporteurs presented their reports to the Assembly, including:

A/79/160 | Mobile Indigenous Peoples | Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples

The report considers the situation of mobile Indigenous Peoples, addressing the challenges they face to their legal recognition, land rights and mobility, including transboundary movement, as well as the challenges caused by the impact of armed conflict, and also considers the unique situation of Indigenous Peoples living in voluntary isolation and initial contact.

| Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples The report considers the situation of mobile Indigenous Peoples, addressing the challenges they face to their legal recognition, land rights and mobility, including transboundary movement, as well as the challenges caused by the impact of armed conflict, and also considers the unique situation of Indigenous Peoples living in voluntary isolation and initial contact. A/79/163 | Gender and toxics | UN Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights

The report elaborates on the State’s duty to prevent hazardous substances and waste from generating or deepening gendered injustices, especially against women and girls, gender-diverse persons and poor men, and especially when they are from marginalized communities.

| UN Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights The report elaborates on the State’s duty to prevent hazardous substances and waste from generating or deepening gendered injustices, especially against women and girls, gender-diverse persons and poor men, and especially when they are from marginalized communities. A/79/168 | Climate justice: loss and damage | UN Special Rapporteur on the right to development

The report develops a climate justice framework comprising four pillars (mitigation, adaptation, remediation and transformation) and 12 overarching human rights principles. The UN Special Rapporteur proposes that climate change-related loss and damage, which undermines the right to development of individuals and communities, especially those living in developing countries, should be seen as part of the remediation pillar of the climate justice framework.

| UN Special Rapporteur on the right to development The report develops a climate justice framework comprising four pillars (mitigation, adaptation, remediation and transformation) and 12 overarching human rights principles. The UN Special Rapporteur proposes that climate change-related loss and damage, which undermines the right to development of individuals and communities, especially those living in developing countries, should be seen as part of the remediation pillar of the climate justice framework. A/79/176 | Access to information on climate change and human rights | UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and climate change

The report explores the specificities, challenges and good practices related to access to information on climate change and human rights. It clarifies States’ international obligations, individually and as part of international cooperation, as well as the responsibility of businesses.

| UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and climate change The report explores the specificities, challenges and good practices related to access to information on climate change and human rights. It clarifies States’ international obligations, individually and as part of international cooperation, as well as the responsibility of businesses. A779/270 | Overview of the implementation of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment | UN Special Rapporteur on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment

Identifying key progress as well as the most pressing challenges and opportunities, the report aims to advance the understanding of differentiated impacts, considering situations of vulnerability, and through an intersectional lens, and identifies conclusions and provides recommendations to States on how to fulfil their human rights obligations.

Learning

Introduction to Human Rights and the Environment UNITAR / UNEP / InforMEA The Introduction to Human Rights and the Environment course covers the relationship between human rights and the environment; explains the bases for the application of human rights to environmental issues, and the procedural and substantive obligations relating to the environment; and gives examples of constitutions that have incorporated a right to a healthy environment, good practices in procedural and substantive environmental protection. Environmental Human Rights Defenders InforMEA The course focuses on the crisis of the environmental defenders. Our Rights, Our Planet Online Training Articolo12 / Children’s Environmental Rights Initiative (CERI) / Terre des Hommes (TdH) / UNEP The online resource is a free training tool for young people to learn about and stand up for their environmental rights.

Resources

GEN Updates

GEN Human Rights and Environment Talks

Geneva Rights and Environment Talks The Special Rapporteur on the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment reports to the Human Rights Council during its March session on issues related to their mandate. The Geneva Rights and Environment Talks aim to harness the opportunity of this moment of the year to reflect on the challenges posed by the rapid decline of nature and biodiversity, and on how Geneva contributes to bringing together the actors working towards ensuring the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment is upheld for all. Geneva Rights and Climate Talks The Special Rapporteur on human rights and climate change reports to the Human Rights Council during its June session on issues related to their mandate. The Geneva Rights and Climate Talks aim to harness the opportunity of this moment of the year to reflect on the challenges posed by the impacts of climate change, and on how Geneva contributes to bringing together the actors working towards placing human rights at the heart of climate action. Geneva Toxic Free Talks The Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights reports every fall to the Council and to the UN General Assembly on issues related to their mandate. The Geneva Toxic Free Talks aim to harness the opportunity of this moment of the year to reflect on the challenges posed by the production, use, and dissemination of toxics and on how Geneva contributes to bringing together the actors working in reversing the toxic tide.

GEN Events

Climate Change and Human Rights

Toxics and Human Rights

Biodiversity and Human Rights

Right to a Healthy Environment

Environmental Human Rights Defenders

Other Themes

Environment @ Human Rights Council