ASEAN Healthy Environment Effort Recognised By RWI

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec. 8 (Bernama) -- The Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (RWI) has launched the report of a year-long study that recognised the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' (ASEAN) stand and progress in achieving a healthy environment. According to a statement issued by the Swedish Institute, the report of the study entitled 'Prosperous and green in the Anthropocene: The human right to a healthy environment in Southeast Asia' (2020) was launched in Bangkok, Thailand, on Wednesday (Dec 2). The report comes at a crucial time when environmental standards have to be strengthened to address the root causes of the COVID-19 pandemic and the conditions that exacerbate its spread. The study was produced by 13 Southeast Asian law and policy researchers, based on an overview and analysis of ASEAN Member States’ laws, policies, and supporting case law. The study analyses the extent to which the right to a healthy environment is recognised in the 10 ASEAN countries. The lead author of the report and RWI international public lawyer, Claudia Ituarte-Lima, noted that the publication is a valuable reference for those seeking to understand the ASEAN landscape of environmental rights. “The current race to meet the challenges of the COVID world requires deep, systemic change to make healthy environments a reality for everyone,” said Ituarte-Lima, adding that recognising the right to a healthy environment highlights what is at stake and ensures no one gets left behind in this race. “The Prosperous and Green report highlights that several Southeast Asian countries, to their credit, have taken important steps in recognising the right to a healthy environment,” she said. The report shows how governments and judicial systems in the ASEAN region have recognised the right to a healthy environment in laws, policies, and court decisions, and proposes options for strengthening the implementation. The report also highlighted that four of the 10 member states have constitutionally recognised the right to a healthy environment, with one implicitly recognising this right in its jurisprudence. The right to a healthy environment is also enshrined in the ASEAN declaration on Human Rights. Moreover, all ASEAN member states have adopted environmental and climate change law and policy frameworks that have contributed to the substantive and procedural elements of a healthy environment. “On their part, women and youth organisations are leading important initiatives as rights-holders. They are providing important lessons about protecting our right to a healthy environment, not only for people now but also for future generations," Ituarte-Lima added. As member states of ASEAN emerge from the impacts of COVID-19, the report noted ASEAN will build on the progress made in the last two decades concerning the rights to a healthy environment. -- BERNAMA