Human Rights and Protection of Environment in India

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Published by LAW MANTRA

by Meha Bhushan and Heena kumara, 3rd Year B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) Hidayatullah National Law University, New Raipur,

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LAW MANTRA

 THINK BEYOND OTHERS

(National Monthly Journal, I.S.S.N 23216417)

“Human Rights and Protection of Environment in India” Abstract:

By looking at the society from a historical perspective, we realize that protection and  preservation of the environment has been integral to the cultural and religious ethos of most human communities. Nature has been venerated by the Ancient Hindus, Greeks, Native Americans and other religions around the world. They worshipped all forms of nature  believing that it contains the spirit of God. “The Earth is our mother and we are all her children” is a famous dictum declared by Hinduism. Gaea or the Earth Goddess was worshipped by the ancient Greeks. Islamic law regards man as having inborn "all the resources of life and nature" and having certain religious duties to God in using them. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, God gave the earth to his people and their children as an eternal ownership, to be cared for and passed on to each generation. The paper basically addresses the inter linkages between Human Rights and Environment Fortification from time immemorial to the present times in different religions practiced in various countries with emphasis on Indian perspective. Environmental concerns in international field have forced to think about upon the impact of human activities on the environment. The two disciplines are interlinked since the first time United Nations recognized the link between human rights and environment protection in a 1968 resolution. Before environmental concerns did human rights had already became a focus of international community long. Though there was a separate early development of human rights law and environmental law; they still have an important element in common. This paper also tries to find the reasons which are responsible for, poverty situations and human rights abuses which are actually responsible for worsened environmental conditions.

Introduction

Indian Judiciary has time and again recognized human right to environment very artistically. India has been very sophisticated Jurisprudence in terms of environmental rights, there are still many problems existing the project addresses the same. Challenges are more another one is save the needs of future generation in this mad rush for development and

 

 

materialist life. The concepts to address these problems such as precautionary, polluter pays and Public Trust Doctrine have also been laid down .So let’s move forward and analyze these issues.

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Over the years, the international community has increased its awareness on the relationship between environmental degradation and human rights abuses. It is clear that,  poverty situations and human rights abuses are worsened by environmental degradation. This is for several obvious reasons: •

Firstly

, the exhaustion of natural resources leads to unemployment and emigration to cities

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. •

Secondly

, this affects the enjoyment and exercise of basic human rights. Environmental conditions contribute to a large extent, to the spread of infectious diseases. From the 4,400 million of people who live in developing countries, almost 60% lack basic health care services, almost a third of these people have no access to safe water supply. •

Thirdly

, degradation poses new problems such as environmental refugees. Environmental refugees suffer from significant economic, socio-cultural, and political consequences. And fourthly, environmental degradation worsens existing problems suffered by developing and developed countries. Air pollution, for example, accounts for 2.7 million to 3.0 million of deaths annually and of these, 90% are from developing countries

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. Growing environmental activism has forced the international community to ponder upon the impact of human activities on the environment. For the first time the General Assembly of the United Nations initially recognized the link between human rights and environment protection in a 1968 resolution

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. It can be argued human right must be recognized in order to address the problems caused by deterioration on the environment. Sometimes it is also suggested that right to healthy environment become one of the emerging third generation right

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. Groundwork for environment justice may be traced in between the links of environment  protection and human right as both are the means to maximize human dignity and wellbeing.  Now days the legal protection of human rights has increasingly been invoked to achieve the

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 See,ibid

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 See,ibid

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 In 1969, the General Assembly adopted the declaration on progress and development in the social arena in order to further explore this link. In 1972 the Stockholm Declaration, adopted at the United Nations Conference on the human Environment, formally promulgated the right to environment as an aspect of human rights.

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 In broader terms first generation rights are civil and political, while second generation rights are economic and social rights that require affirmative actions by government.

 

 

ends of environment justice. Environment justice deals with equitable utilization of resources,  procedural fairness and a safe and healthy environment. In the era of globalization and a shift towards non-state actors international human rights has acquired crucial role. It can be arguably said human right deals with the conflict between trade and the environment and  provide the means to reconcile it. Object of the human right is said to limit the power of the state, as it is right fully  pointed out by John Acton “

 Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely”.

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of the most surprising points about human right is while environmental regulations may always be amended or repealed human rights by and large remains inviolable. This aspect gives a smooth angle for viewing environmental justice from a human right perspective. One of the arguments against human right can be that objectives of human right and environment law may be in conflict with each other. As we all know that human survival requires consideration of the needs of the present as well the needs of the future generation. This is a well-proven fact that preservation of resources for future generation is indispensable  but doing so requires foregoing current use of resources

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. One thing, which is the obvious outcome, the protection of nature for the future may at times conflict with economic development in the present. This is particularly more evident in the context of developing countries where the poverty makes economic development a priority. Further this is a general  principle that in case of depletion of resources in a given area forces population to move areas that are habitable and appear able to sustain these populations thus creating the potential for increased competition over decreasing resources. Inspire of all these arguments vis-à-vis tussle between human rights and environment  protection one thing is ample clear that mankind is part of nature and separation of interests of human beings and the environment is quite difficult because human requires air, water and food in order to survive but on the hand contamination, pollution or destruction of these elements poses a direct threat to health, shelter, food and well being of human life

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. In fact human right and environment go hand by hand because the degradation of the environment violates numerous well-recognized human rights

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. This is the fundamental  principle that no life is possible without some level of healthful environment. Just because of this it can be averred that the right to environment is a condition precedent to all other human rights but at the same time the basis for a right to a healthful environment

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46-64 (2000), W.

 

Michael Reisman, Sovereignty and Human Rights in Contemporary International Law, 84 AJIL 866 (1990).

 

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Boyle A. E., Birnie P.W., ‘

 International Law and the environment’