The SDGs are about human and environmental rights

The SDGs are a rights-based agenda, so it is important to understand what rights people have.

4 https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/

Human rights

Human rights are outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is the foundation for international and national laws around Human Rights. This milestone document was announced in 1948, in the aftermath of the horrors of the Second World War, to ensure that the atrocities that had occurred were a thing of the past and not the future.4 There are 30 Human Rights. The first and last Articles are, arguably, the most important: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights” and “No-one can take away your human rights”, respectively.

The 30 Human Rights are (in simplified form)5:

1. We Are All Born Free & Equal.

We are all born free. We all have our own thoughts and ideas. We should all be treated in the same way.

2. Don’t Discriminate.

These rights belong to everybody, whatever our differences.

3. The Right to Life.

We all have the right to life, and to live in freedom and safety.

4. No Slavery.

Nobody has any right to make us a slave. We cannot make anyone our slave.

5. No Torture.

Nobody has any right to hurt us or to torture us.

6. You Have Rights No Matter Where You Go.

I am a person just like you!

7. We’re All Equal Before the Law.

The law is the same for everyone. It must treat us all fairly.

8. Your Human Rights Are Protected by Law.

We can all ask for the law to help us when we are not treated fairly.

9. No Unfair Detainment.

Nobody has the right to put us in prison without good reason and keep us there, or to send us away from our country.

10. The Right to Trial.

If we are put on trial this should be in public. The people who try us should not let anyone tell them what to do.

11. We’re Always Innocent Till Proven Guilty.

Nobody should be blamed for doing something until it is proven. When people say we did a bad thing we have the right to show it is not true.

12. The Right to Privacy.

Nobody should try to harm our good name. Nobody has the right to come into our home, open our letters, or bother us or our family without a good reason.

13. Freedom to Move.

We all have the right to go where we want in our own country and to travel as we wish.

14. The Right to Seek a Safe Place to Live.

If we are frightened of being badly treated in our own country, we all have the right to run away to another country to be safe.

15. Right to a Nationality.

We all have the right to belong to a country.

16. Marriage and Family.

Every grown-up has the right to marry and have a family if they want to. Men and women have the same rights when they are married, and when they are separated.

17. The Right to Your Own Things.

Everyone has the right to own things or share them. Nobody should take our things from us without a good reason.

18. Freedom of Thought.

We all have the right to believe in what we want to believe, to have a religion, or to change it if we want.

19. Freedom of Expression.

We all have the right to make up our own minds, to think what we like, to say what we think, and to share our ideas with other people.

20. The Right to Public Assembly.

We all have the right to meet our friends and to work together in peace to defend our rights. Nobody can make us join a group if we don’t want to.

21. The Right to Democracy.

We all have the right to take part in the government of our country. Every grown-up should be allowed to choose their own leaders.

22. Social Security.

We all have the right to affordable housing, medicine, education, and childcare, enough money to live on and medical help if we are ill or old.

23. Workers’ Rights.

Every grown-up has the right to do a job, to a fair wage for their work, and to join a trade union.

24. The Right to Play.

We all have the right to rest from work and to relax.

25. Food and Shelter for All.

We all have the right to a good life. Mothers and children, people who are old, unemployed or disabled, and all people have the right to be cared for.

26. The Right to Education.

Education is a right. Primary school should be free. We should learn about the United Nations and how to get on with others. Our parents can choose what we learn.

27. Copyright.

Copyright is a special law that protects one’s own artistic creations and writings; others cannot make copies without permission. We all have the right to our own way of life and to enjoy the good things that art, science and learning bring.

28. A Fair and Free World.

There must be proper order so we can all enjoy rights and freedoms in our own country and all over the world.

29. Responsibility.

We have a duty to other people, and we should protect their rights and freedoms.

30. No One Can Take Away Your Human Rights.

5 https://www.youthforhumanrights.org/what-are-human-rights/ universal-declaration-of-human-rights/articles-1-15.html

“HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE ENVIRONMENT ARE INTERTWINED” Environmental rights

“Human rights and the environment are intertwined; human rights cannot be enjoyed without a safe, clean and healthy environment; and sustainable environmental governance cannot exist without the establishment of and respect for human rights. This relationship is increasingly recognised yet paradoxically environmental rights are increasingly violated. Environmental rights are composed of substantive rights (fundamental rights) and procedural rights (tools used to achieve substantial rights).”6

6 https://www.unenvironment.org/explore-topics/environmental-rights-andgovernance/what-we-do/advancing-environmental-rights/what-0

Everyone has the following environmental rights:

Substantive Rights

• To a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment.

• To protection against discrimination and have equal protection of the law, in relation to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment.

• To freedom from threats, harassment, intimidation and violence whilst working on human rights and the environment.

• To freedom of expression and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

• To freedom of association and peaceful assembly in relation to environmental matters. • To self-determination; to freely determine your political status and freely pursue your economic, social and cultural development.

• To, for your own ends, freely dispose of your natural wealth and resources without prejudice to any obligations arising out of international economic co-operation, based upon the principle of mutual benefit, and international law. In no case may a people be deprived of its own means of subsistence.

• To not be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

• To not be subjected to arbitrary interference with your privacy, family or home.

Procedural Rights

• To seek, receive, and impart environmental information.

• To participate in public decision-making about environmental matters.

• To equal access to public service in their country.

• To effective legal remedies for violations of these rights.

• To be informed, at the time of arrest, of the reasons for arrest and shall be promptly informed of any charges against one. • To be brought promptly before a judge or other officer authorized by law to exercise judicial power, after arrest, and shall be entitled to trial within a reasonable time or to release. It shall not be the general rule that persons awaiting trial shall be detained in custody, but release may be subject to guarantees to appear for trial, at any other stage of the judicial proceedings, and, should occasion arise, for execution of the judgement.

• To compensation after unlawful arrest or detention.

State Obligations

States have an obligation to protect environmental rights. This involves ensuring the provision of the above rights as well as the obligations:

• To require the prior assessment of the possible environmental and human rights impacts of policies and projects.

• To ensure that they comply with their obligations to indigenous peoples and members of traditional communities.

• To ensure the effective enforcement of their environmental standards against public and private actors.

Private Sector Obligations

Businesses have a responsibility to respect environmental rights. This means that they should avoid infringing on the human rights of others and should address adverse human rights impacts with which they are involved. This includes the obligations:

• To develop policies that respect environmental rights.

• To undertake due diligence processes to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address their impacts on human rights.

• To create processes to enable the remediation of any adverse human rights impacts that they cause or to which they contribute.