About this project
In recent years, there have been calls within both the United Nations and the Council of Europe to realise the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. Following this, a working group within the Council of Europe examined whether this right could be enshrined in a legally binding or non-legally binding instrument. Including such a right in a treaty could clarify what responsibilities member states have in relation to the environment; an issue that is now increasingly being brought before the courts in various climate cases, e.g. Urgenda.
In anticipation of a possible international instrument, the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers calls on member state governments to actively consider recognising this right at the national level as a human right. Following this call, this study explores the extent to which the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is protected in the Netherlands and what the Netherlands can learn from the choices and considerations of countries that have already adequately shaped a fundamental right to a clean and/or healthy and/or sustainable environment.
This study begins with a description of the national and international fundamental rights that contribute to the protection of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment in the Netherlands. Next, this study focuses on countries that have already shaped a fundamental right to a clean and/or healthy and/or sustainable environment. The aim of the study is to reflect on what the Netherlands can learn from the choices and considerations of these countries with regard to the possible realisation of a fundamental right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.