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ENVIRONMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS

The field of environmental human rights includes both the right to defend livelihoods linked to the exploitation of natural resources and the protection of the rights of community members and environmental campaigners. Most environmental human rights violations emanate from conflicts between environmental protection and economic interests. In many countries, particularly in the developing world, environmental protection laws are biased in favour of economic and political interests. The common economic priorities of governments and business may result in the suppression and intimidation of environmental defenders, whether they are community members or campaigners.

Human rights abuses often come about through resource deprivation and the exclusion of community stakeholders in the decision making process when natural resource exploitation is involved. For example, Nigeria's oil and gas fields reek of environmental human rights violations. Shell regards oil-bearing communities neither as their hosts nor as stakeholders in the oil industry, and the company has turned Ogoniland and the greater part of the Niger Delta into a wasteland, destroying vegetation, farmland and livelihoods. Thousands of village people and environmentalists have been detained, intimidated and maimed, and hundreds including Ken Saro-Wiwa and his Ogoni patriots have been killed for daring to speak up.

A Classic Scenario
A classic case goes as follows: local people and environmental activists protest against the negative impacts of logging (or oil drilling, or dam construction, and so forth). The involved companies may have damaged local farmlands and crops, which may include cash crops. Attempts by local people and activists to draw attention to the negative impacts of the resource exploitation and seek compensation for damages through dialogue fail, culminating in protests. The government may withhold information on the revenue accruing from the project, and its distribution. Activists may release facts implicating government officials with their protection of business interests. They may also draw attention to lax environmental laws and weak enforcement as contributing factors to environmental degradation.

Victims and campaigners may attempt legal action only to find that the mechanisms available for seeking redress protect business. Protest at this injustice can lead to government intervention on behalf of business and the summoning of law enforcement agents to suppress protesting community members and environmental activists. In the process, protestors may be arrested and detained, and in some instances tortured or charged. Forced eviction sometimes becomes a punishing measure for protesting communities.

This scenario includes numerous examples of different types of environmental human rights violations. The scope of environmental human rights is enormous, due to the fact that the environment is our life. The concept is relatively new, and is constantly evolving. The provisions and mechanisms for the protection of human rights on the one hand and environment on the other provide a double-edged sword with which to contend with violators.

Human Rights Provisions
The field of environmental human rights draws from the first generation of human rights provisions, the UN Human Rights Charter, adopted in 1948. The Charter specifies the fundamental rights to life, freedom and equality for all persons. Its civil and political rights provisions cover freedom of movement and association, protection against unlawful arrest and detention, and the right to a fair trial. These have evolved to include the rights to participation and information, and are still evolving to include economic rights and the defense of human rights campaigners.

The UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights attempts to define economic, social and cultural rights, especially pertaining to livelihoods, adequate standards of living and favourable working conditions. There have been recent efforts to expand this Covenant to incorporate the rights to food and water as human rights.

Environmental Laws
The area of environmental human rights also draws from rules protecting the environment, especially those that relate to the mitigation of the social and environmental impacts of sensitive development projects. The current push to expand rights from the political to the economic and environmental spheres is making inroads. The proposal to establish a World Environment Organization is an example of ongoing efforts to streamline the regulation and enforcement of environmental protection.

Indigenous Rights
The realm of environmental human rights also covers indigenous peoples, local people and environmental activists as possible victims of environmental abuse. These people all have a common interest in protecting the environment, and are viewed by many corporations and governments as obstacles to development. Their militant campaigns in defending the environment are often met with brutal and naked force, resulting in rights violations. Safeguarding indigenous livelihoods and expanding the scope of participation in decision making and project management are integral to preventing environmental human rights violations. The rights of indigenous peoples to the resources in their environments is also paramount to biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction.

Right to a Healthy Environment
Another basis for environmental human rights is a respect for the natural ecosystems upon which human societies depend. FoE Nigeria believes that “a concern for humankind and our habitats depends upon a respect for other animals and their habitats, and upon the recognition of the importance of biodiversity. Humankind cannot achieve happiness in a degraded environment, and every individual and responsible human being has an equal right to happiness regardless of his or her wealth.” Environmental human rights also include moral claims and concepts such as environmental space, entitlements and participation.

FoEI and Environmental Human Rights
Friends of the Earth International has been strategizing about how to incorporate environmental human rights into our campaigning. We plan to do this in several different ways, including empowering communities to become more involved in development projects that threaten their natural resources; defending the rights of community members and environmental activists; and lobbying national governments and international institutions to enforce existing provisions protecting the environment and human rights. We will organize high-profile missions to locations where environmental human rights are being violated, and are developing a rapid response mechanism to respond to cases in which the human rights of environmental defenders are denied.

Godwin Uyi Ojo , FoE Nigeria