High-level Conference - Environmental Protection and Human Rights
Organised under the aegis of the Georgian Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe
27 February 2020, Strasbourg
www.coe.int/HR-environment geopresidency.mfa.gov.ge/environment
Final Declaration
The Georgian Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe organises a High-level Conference on Environmental Protection and Human Rights which will be held at the headquarters of the Council of Europe, Strasbourg (France).
The objective of this event is to discuss the relation between human rights and environmental protection in the context of national policies. The participants will explore how to develop a strategy to support member States in better meeting their obligations in the field. In this context, they will examine the potential of the European Convention on Human Rights and other Council of Europe instruments for protecting the environment, while also considering current or previous initiatives at universal, regional and national levels, notably with the Global Pact for the Environment.
Introductory Report to the Conference
- The Environment and Human Rights, by Prof. Elisabeth Lambert (CNRS Research Director, SAGE Research Unit, University of Strasbourg)
Speeches:
- Levan Davitashvili, Minister of Environment Protection and Agriculture of Georgia
- Marija Pejčinović Burić, Secretary General of the Council of Europe
- Rik Daems, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
- Professor Elisabeth Lambert, CNRS Research Professor, SAGE, Faculty of Law, University of Strasbourg
- Dunja Mijatović, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights
- Christos Giakoumopoulos, Director General of the Directorate General Human Rights and Rule of Law (DGI)
- Katariina Jahkola, Vice-Chair of the European Committee on Criminal Problems (CDPC)
- Kristīne Licīs, Vice-Chair of the Steering Committee for Human Rights (CDDH)
- Giuseppe Palmisano, President of the European Committee of Social Rights
- Anna Rurka, President of the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe
- Harald Bergman, Congress Spokesperson on Human rights
High-level Conference on Environmental Protection and Human Rights
#HRenvironment #GeoPresidency
How can criminal law help to combat environmental crimes?
- Teresa Armengol de la Hoz from the Action against Crime Department, explains the Council of Europe’s approach
Do we have the right to a healthy environment?
#HumanRights #ECHR #ECtHR
Documentary film "The Code"
Baltasar Garzón Real, former Magistrate of Spain’s Central Criminal Court (Audiencia Nacional), joined us for the screening of the documentary "The Code"
#HREnvironment Conference Takeaways: Kristīne Līcis
Vice-Chair of the Steering Committee for Human Rights (#CDDH) of the Council of Europe
#HREnvironment Conference Takeaways: Professor David R. Boyd
United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment
#HREnvironment Conference Takeaways: Katariina Jahkola
Vice-Chair of the European Committee on Criminal Problems (#CDPC) of the Council of Europe
#HREnvironment Conference Takeaways: Professor Elisabeth Lambert
CNRS Research Professor, SAGE, Faculty of Law, University of Strasbourg
Relevant legal instruments and documentation
Council of Europe, Conventions
- Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (Rome, 1950)
- European Social Charter (revised) (Strasbourg, 1996)
- Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Bern, 1979)
- Convention on Civil Liability for Damage Resulting from Activities Dangerous to the Environment (Lugano, 1993)
- Convention on the Protection of the Environment through Criminal Law (Strasbourg,1998)
- European Landscape Convention (Florence, 2000)
- Council of Europe Convention on Access to Official Documents (Tromsø, 2010)
- Manual on Human Rights and the environment (2nd edition, 2012)
- Fact-sheet of the Court Environment and the European Convention on human rights (2019)
- Raising awareness of the importance of countering environmental crime - Leaflet
- Fact-sheet on the execution of ECtHR judgments concerning the environment