E N V I R O N M E N T A L R I G H T S
89 U N I T 4 .
Environmental Rights
This unit will help students understand that the impacts of environmental degradation are often felt most by the people contributing to it the least It will introduce them to the variety of intersectional human rights issues related to climate change and how different countries and communities are affected worldwide. In addition, students will learn how to be informed consumers and create change for the environment in their local communities
L e a r n i n g O u t c o m e s
Describe the impacts of climate change
Differentiate between governmental, corporate, and individual impact on the environment
Make connections between environmental protection and human rights.
Think critically about engaging your community around environmental issues
E s s e n t i a l Q u e s t i o n s :
How does sustainable environmental protection help realize human rights?
How do human rights values promote environmental protection?
What are sustainable development goals? Are they working?
How has industrialization impacted the environment?
What is environmental racism?
How can we engage and include everyone in enjoying and protecting the natural environment?
How can governments, corporations, and individuals help protect the environment?
S k i l l s :
Analyze documents
Apply investigative skills
Compare and contrast
L e s s o n s :
Environmental Rights & Sustainable Development Goals
Industrialization and the Environment
Protecting the Earth
The Outdoors is for All
U N I T 4
90
Environmental Rights & Sustainable Development Goals
The realization and enjoyment of all human rights depend on a healthy environment, and therefore they are vulnerable to environmental degradation. Human health intersects with environmental protections and human rights, as they seek to promote and protect human wellbeing and to allow the full development of each person, as well as the amplification of a person’s goals and interests The current clima te emergency gravely threatens the future existence of humanity putting at risk the right to life Children and unborn generations will inherit an environment with extremely limited opportunities due to our dependence on fossil fuels and reckless exploitative economic models.
Some of the rights especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change are the right to health, water, food, housing, partici pation in cultural life, property, and to not be forcibly displaced. Other examples are the right to bodily integrity and to private life Global warming is causing extremely grave and massive conflicts due to scarcity of resources and the lack of adequate living conditions, as well as land conflicts between displaced populations, triggering violations to the right to life, liberty, security and peac e
Environmental rights are intrinsically related to human rights Human rights aspire to protect all people from harm and mistreatment Environmental devastation harms all of Earth’s human and non human inhabitants which is why the protection of nature that sustains life on Earth should be a priority If nature is the condition for life, an even broader protection that is up to date with the latest scientific developments is absolutely necessary Economic interests have stood in the way of action for the environment There is a blatant disregard for the fact that without a safe environment that allows for healthy living, the enjoyment of other human rights is not possible. A State knowingly allowing children to consume polluted water is arbitrarily depriving individuals of their right to life This applies to companies and private entities that fail to do due diligence to protect the communities in which they do business
More States are recognizing the right to a healthy environment as a right in itself that extends protections to seas, forests, and rivers, even without explicit evidence of a risk to humans. Nature is protected because of the importance to other living beings and organisms that deserve protection in their own right This is known as ecological governance that prioritizes and guards Nature’s rights to flourish by providing legal personhood and subsidiary rights, including the right to restoration, the right to its natural processes, and the right to ecosystem functioning without interference Human adaptability and flexibility is needed to limit human activities to al low natural self regeneration processes This includes the principles of i Mitigation or substitution for monetary/political gain; ii Creation of sustainable projects to develop bearable levels of consumption instead of the encouragement of overconsumption; iii Minimizing human footprint instead of increasing it and iv. Maintaining Nature’s integrity and the dynamic ecological processes.
There is s till much to do towards that end For example, American regulations have few restrictions on the use, and overuse, of the natural environment and fail to control pollution or regulate pesticides. Rarely are grant permits refused for projects deemed too ecologically damaging against the sustainable development
Lesson 1
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Environmental Rights & Sustainable Development Goals
goals Sustainable development is a holistic concept that requires the strengthening of interdisciplinary linkages in the different branches of knowledge. We must reinforce environmental protection to balance other social above all economic interests The systems regulating the exploitation of natural resources must be built with an understanding of the fundamental value of the environment as the condition for life
Lesson 1
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93
T E R M S T O K N O W
Sustainable Development Goals
E S S E N T I A L Q U E S T I O N S
How does sustainable environmental protection help realize human rights?
How do human rights values promote environmental protection?
What are sustainable development goals? Are they working?
S U G G E S T E D R E S O U R C E S
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: The 17 Goals
The Paris Agreement for Young People
Declaration on Children, Youth and Climate Action There’s Something in the Water
The Rights of Nature: A Global Movement
Sustainable Development Goals Index
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Environmental Rights & Sustainable Development Goals
ACTIVITY INTRODUCTION:
In a variation of the Model UN format, the lessons in this unit will allow students to focus on one country and its best (and worst) practices and environmental policies
PREPARATION BEFORE THE ACTIVITY:
Read the Sustainable Development Goals and discuss them with your class
What are the SDGs?
When were they put in place? Why? By whom?
Through a class discussion, identify which goals are critical in protecting the environment Note: Challenge students to think past the conservation of natural resources. For instance, ask them how Zero Hunger, Good Health and Wellbeing, Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions might also tie directly into environmental protection Refer back to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Ask students to draw connections between the rights declared in the CRC and the UDHR and the Sustainable Development Goals: How do the Sustainable Development Goals/environmental protections allow for the actualization of human rights?
REQUIRED RESOURCES:
The Sustainable Development Goals
The CRC and UDHR
ACTIVITY DURATION:
45 MINUTES
ACTIVITY OUTLINE:
1 Assign students to different countries around the world Give them a say in what country they choose and try to ensure that all regions of the world are represented
Explain to students that they will be researching this country for the next few lessons with a debate at the end
This means: They should organize their research by subtopic in a way they can easily refer back to They should develop an understanding of their country’s relationship with the environment and be able to understand the stance their country would take on various environmental issues
Lesson 1
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