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The Converging Regimes of Human Rights and Environmental Protection in International Law

Environmental protection and the protection of human rights represent two fundamental policy objectives for the international legal system. These objectives are serviced by the international environmental regime, mostly comprising multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs), with the international human rights regime comprising numerous human rights treaties. Having developed in parallel, these two regimes exist, at least in theory, to serve independent objectives. However, several developments point to evidence of their convergence. This convergence is attributable, inter alia, to the profound interdependence that exists between human well-being and the well-being of the environment. Protection of the environment can be seen as a fundamental precondition to the effective protection of human rights, while human rights provide much needed human well-being underpinnings for MEAs. This analysis thus examines human rights in MEAs, on the one hand, and environmental protection in human rights instruments, on the other hand, in order to reveal substantive evidence of convergence between the multilateral environmental regime and the international human rights regime. It uncovers four tracks of convergence. Firstly, human rights law and environmental law share a number of common principles. Secondly, human rights found in avowedly human rights treaties can be applied instrumentally to improve environmental outcomes. Thirdly, though most MEAs do not recognize human rights directly, a majority recognize the protection of or the advancement of human well-being as one of their foundational principles. Finally, though conceptually distinct, the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment and the emerging rights of nature serve mutually affirming objectives.