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60 Nordic J. Int'l L. 19 (1991)
Human Rights and the Environment

handle is hein.journals/nordic60 and id is 21 raw text is: Human Rights and the Environment By Gudmundur Alfredsson and Alexander Ovsiouk * I. Introduction Environmental issues are being discussed and acted upon in a number of interna- tional, multilateral, regional, sub-regional and bilateral settings. Sensible rules and regulations aimed at maintaining or improving the environmental situation are multi- plying and mechanisms allowing for prevention, reaction and remedies are coming into being. It is therefore a legitimate question whether the introduction of a human rights angle could possibly contribute something positive to these efforts. Further- more, it could be asked whether the human rights field is not already crowded enough with issues and problems and whether the addition of environmental con- cerns would not become a diversion unnecessarily drawing on scarce resources. The preparation of new standards is not likely to be the main reason for a linkage between human rights and environmental issues. Human rights people are not likely to discover and draft standards which are all that different from other intergovern- mental rules: the end-goal is after all the same. The human rights community is, however, likely to place a somewhat different emphasis inasmuch as popular partici- pation and other civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights are concerned. Another contribution by the human rights community could be the recognition of the right of individuals and groups to bring complaints about governmental action or inaction, following of course the exhaustion of national remedies, to the attention of international organizations. This is normally the case for procedures set up to imple- ment human rights standards and a human rights approach to the environment should lead to the introduction of similar procedures. Such a complaints possibility would constitute a major distinction from traditional environmental law as it is prac- ticed at the international level and it would, in itself, provide a good reason for bringing human rights or human rights methodology into the environmental debate. Several human rights instruments already lay down substantive rules which have a bearing on the environment. Existing implementation procedures established in connection with these instruments could be employed in order to secure their reali- zation. In addition, all sorts of new initiatives concerning action in this combined field, involving research, standard-setting activities and implementation methods, are being discussed in a wide variety of fora. Whatever the answers to the above-raised questions may be, it is clear that the human rights dimension of the preservation and protection of our environment has • The two authors (from Iceland and the Ukraine) are staff members with the United Na- tions Centre for Human Rights in Geneva, but the opinions expressed in this article are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Organization.

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