Day By Day© by Chris Muir.

June 21, 2007

The Environment has Rights, Too

We've been hearing a lot lately about the rights of animals. A couple of out-there examples include Knut, the polar bear in a German zoo had his rights "abused" because the zoo decided to have a human raise him when his mother rejected him; and since chimpanzees share 97% of our genetic makeup, they therefore deserve the same rights humans enjoy.

Now, a group called Earthjustice has submitted a paper to the UN Human Rights Council that essentially says the environment has rights too.

The 2007 Environmental Rights Report reviews recent developments and case studies demonstrating the connection between the environment and human rights at the international, regional, and domestic levels. The report also provides a comprehensive list of national constitutional provisions protecting environmental rights.

"We are happy to report that 118 national constitutions across the globe now recognize the right to a clean and healthy environment," said Rosaleen O'Gara of Earthjustice. "Unfortunately, violations of environmental rights continue to mount for millions of people. The disruptions caused by global warming are just the latest example of such violations. With this report we hope all international, regional, and national institutions will understand that 'the right to life, liberty and security of person' and other rights established in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights often depend on a healthy environment."

The entire report can be seen here.

Don't get me wrong. I'm all for promoting a clean and healthy environment whenever possible. But I do question the idea of environmental "rights," as that opens up a nasty can of worms just right for the Al Gore crowd. When the rights of a tree become just as, if not more than, important than the rights of a human, where to we go next?