The Right to a Healthy Environment, Part 2: The United States’ Consideration of the Right to a Healthy Environment

When
July 13, 2022 12:00 pm — 1:15 pm
Where
Webinar Only

An ELI Breaking News Public Webinar

Join the Environmental Law Institute, Delaware Law’s Global Environmental Rights Institute, Barry University’s Center for Earth Jurisprudence, the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources (SEER), the ABA Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice (CRSJ), and the ABA Center for Human Rights for a breaking news series of webinars about the right to a healthy environment.

Based on a recommendation of the UN Human Rights Council, the UN General Assembly will soon consider whether to recognize a basic human right to a healthy environment. The U.S. position on the right is still evolving. Last fall, it spoke out against the Council’s recognition of the right. On the other hand, it has a multitude of federal policies to advance environmental justice and a Declaration of Independence that exults “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” Moreover, last August, the American Bar Association resolved to “work with all levels of government to establish environmental justice laws, regulations, guidelines, policies, and best practices that reflect the right of every human being to dignity and a clean and healthy environment,” established an EJ task force to implement this provision, and issued a letter in support of the right to a healthy environment.  

In the second installment of this series, a panel of leaders in the field of human rights and the environment will discuss the United States' position on international recognition of the human right to a healthy environment.

Panelists:
Nadia Ahmad
, Associate Professor of Law, Barry University, Moderator
Ashfaq Khalfan, Director, Climate Justice, Oxfam America
John Knox, former Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment, United Nations
Daniel Magraw, Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Institute, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS)

Materials:
There are no speaker slides for this event.
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