In 2020, Source International boldly took the lead in championing the global recognition of the Human Rightto a safe, clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. Over the past two years, our dedicated efforts have transformed a small group into a formidable coalition comprising 1,366 Civil Society Organizations, Indigenous Peoples Groups, Social Movements, and Local Communities.
The culmination of our unwavering commitment came in October 2021 when the UN Human Rights Council officially acknowledged the Human Rights to a Healthy Environment, a ground breaking moment further endorsed by the UN General Assembly in July 2022! Source International, standing shoulder to shoulder with 1365 like-minded groups, played a pivotal role in spearheading this historic achievement.
Exciting news awaits as The GlobalCoalition for the Recognition of the Human Right to a Clean, Healthy, and Sustainable Environment has been honored with the prestigious 2023 United Nations Human Rights Prize and it takes on added significance as it marks the first time, since its establishment in 1966, that the prize is granted to a global coalition.
Nominated by UN agencies and selected by the esteemed committee, the coalition joins the ranks of past laureates such as Malala Yousafzai, Martin Luther King, and Nelson Mandela. Adding to this momentous occasion, Source International's founder, Flaviano Bianchini,has been elected as the European representative. Alongside a representative from each continent, he will proudly accept the prestigious prize at the UN General Assembly on December 15th!
Source International is proud to be part of this broad coalition involving civil society organizations, Indigenous Peoples, social movements and local communities, from around the world. Together, we have campaigned tirelessly over several years to have everyone’s right to a healthy environment universally recognised.
Background
The Global Coalition of Civil Society, Indigenous Peoples, Social Movements and Local Communities for the Universal Recognition of the Right to a Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment has been selected for the UN Human Rights Award, which is awarded every five years to five recipients. An awards ceremony will take place in December at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, during the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Civil society organizations, Indigenous Peoples, social movements and local communities have been defending and promoting the right to a healthy environment for several decades and in recent years have coalesced around the call to have this right recognized by the United Nations. In 2020, the Coalition issued a call which was signed by more than 1,350 organizations seeking universal recognition of the right to healthy environment. Members of the Coalition, including Amnesty International, also engaged in advocacy and campaigning between 2020 and 2022. The UN Human Rights Council recognized the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment in a resolution on 8 October 2021, followed by the UN General Assembly on 28 July 2022.
COP28 will be held in Dubai between 30 November to 12 December.
The official press release from the Global Coalition of Civil Society, Indigenous Peoples, Social Movements and Local Communities for the Universal Recognition of the Right to a Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment is available here.
