Since 2015, an unprecedented movement has been sweeping courts around the world.
自2015年以来,
Groups of young plaintiffs, some as young as 7, are suing their governments for their inaction on tackling climate change. For example, in the winter of 2018, 25 young Colombians, including Indigenous youths, sued their government for failing to reduce deforestation in the Amazon and falling short on climate promises. This suit, as well as others, argued that destructive environmental policies put the plaintiffs’ current and future lives at risk. Climate inaction violates their basic human rights— specifically the right to a healthy environment, health, food, and water.
一场前所未有的运动席卷了 世界各地的法院。 一群年轻的原告, 有些年仅 7 岁, 正在起诉他们的政府 在应对气候变化方面无所作为。 例如,在 2018 年冬天, 包括土著青年在内的 25 名哥伦比亚年轻人 起诉他们的政府, 理由是他们未能减少亚马逊 的森林砍伐, 也没有兑现气候承诺。 该诉讼以及其他诉讼 辩称,破坏性的环境政策 使原告的当前和未来 生活处于危险之中。 不采取气候行动侵犯了 他们的基本人权, 特别是享有健康,环境, 健康,食物和水的权利。
But what do human rights have to do with the environment? Do you have the right to breathe clean air? To live in a world with white rhinos, polar bears, and lemur leaf frogs? What about the right to mangroves and coral reefs?
但是人权与环境有什么关系? 你有权呼吸干净的空气吗? 生活在一个有白犀牛、 北极熊和狐猴叶蛙的世界里? 那红树林和珊瑚礁的权利呢?
The first international document to outline human rights was adopted by the newly-formed United Nations in 1948, against the backdrop of two world wars marked by countless atrocities and barbaric acts. This document, known as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, or UDHR, describes the inherent freedoms that belong to all people, no matter who they are or where they live, and which can't be granted or revoked. It establishes rights like freedom of thought, political liberties like the right to a fair trial, and socioeconomic and cultural rights, like the right to adequate housing and healthcare. While the UDHR itself is non-binding, its formation gave people an internationally recognized set of ethics and standards, and laid the foundation for human rights law. And since 1948, these liberties have been woven into international treaties, constitutions, and laws, meaning that countries have opted to uphold and protect them. As a result, countless individual human rights struggles and movements have been granted legitimacy and a legal basis for pursuing justice.
在以无数暴行 和野蛮行为 的两次世界大战的背景下, 新成立的联合国于 1948 年通过了 第一份概述人权的国际文件。 这份被称为 《世界人权宣言》 (UDHR)的文件, 描述了属于所有人的固有自由, 无论他们是谁或生活在哪里, 这些自由不能被授予或撤销。 它确立了思想自由等权利、 公平审判权类的政治自由 和社会经济和文化权利 比如适当住房权和医疗保健权。 虽然《世界人权宣言》 本身并不具有约束力, 但它的形成为人们提供了一套国际公认 的道德和标准, 并为人权法奠定了基础。 自 1948 年以来, 这些自由已被纳入国际条约, 宪法和法律, 这意味着各国选择维护和保护它们。 结果,无数个人的 人权斗争和运动 获得了伸张正义的合法 性和法律基础。
The UDHR makes no mention of nature, biodiversity, or climate. These rights, instead, first took hold at the national level. Many countries within the Global South, often influenced by Indigenous laws and worldviews, incorporated the right to a healthy environment into their constitutions and regional treaties. Soon, human rights advocates were calling on the rest of the world and the United Nations to recognize this right as well. Many argued that the very principles of the UDHR depend on access to healthy ecosystems. Each year, millions of people die from air and water pollution. Declining pollinator populations threaten basic food security. And the loss of coastal habitats has left millions exposed to greater risks from destructive floods and hurricanes.
《世界人权宣言》没有提及 自然、生物多样性或气候。 相反,这些权利首先在国家一级确立。 全球南方的许多国家 经常受到土著法律 和世界观的影响,将健康环境权 纳入其宪法 和区域条约。 很快,人权倡导者呼吁世界 其他国家和联合国也承认这项权利。 许多人认为, 《世界人权宣言》的原则本身 取决于能否获得健康的生态系统。 每年都有数百万人死 于空气和水污染。 授粉者数量的减少 威胁到基本的粮食安全。 沿海栖息地的丧失使 数百万人面临 更大的破坏性洪水和飓风的风险。
Protecting this right is more urgent now than ever before. Climate change is causing more frequent heatwaves, longer droughts, and more destructive wildfires. Without rapid and significant change, the planet is at risk of mass extinction, which could wipe out a quarter of the world’s biodiversity by 2100. Such losses to natural ecosystems would likely have disastrous knockoff effects, further threatening food supplies, destroying livelihoods, and leaving humanity more vulnerable to disease.
现在,保护这项权利 比以往任何时候都更加紧迫。 气候变化导致 更频繁的热浪、更长的干旱 和更具破坏性的野火。 如果没有迅速而重大的变化, 地球将面临大规模 灭绝的危险,到 2100 年, 大规模灭绝可能会消灭世界 四分之一的生物多样性。 自然生态系统的这种损失 可能会产生灾难性的连锁反应, 进一步威胁粮食供应,破坏生计, 使人类更容易受到疾病的侵害。
Thankfully, momentum is building. Today, over 150 countries and jurisdictions have enshrined the right to a healthy environment into national legislation. On April 5th, 2018, the Colombian Supreme Court ruled in favor of the young plaintiffs, finding that the government was legally obliged to reduce deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions in order to protect the rights of present and future generations. This case and similar historic wins by young people in the courts of the Netherlands, Germany, and the US has inspired others to take up the cause. As of the summer of 2023, a wave of more than 2,000 human rights-based environmental cases have been filed across the globe. And this number is likely to grow. In 2022, an overwhelming majority of UN General Assembly states came together to keep human rights aligned to a changing world by recognizing the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment.
值得庆幸的是,势头正在增强。 今天,超过 150 个 国家和司法管辖区 已将健康环境权纳入国家立法。 2018 年 4 月 5 日, 哥伦比亚最高法院 作出有利于年轻原告的裁决, 认定政府有法律义务减少森林砍伐 和温室气体排放, 以保护当代人和子孙后代的权利。 该案以及年轻 人在荷兰, 德国和美国法院 取得的类似历史性胜利 激发了其他人参与这一事业。 截至 2023 年夏天, 全球已经提起了 2,000 多起 基于人权的环境案件。 而且这个数字可能会增加。 2022 年,绝大多数 联合国大会国家齐聚一堂 通过承认享有清洁、 健康和可持续环境的权利, 使人权与不断变化的世界保持一致。
It will take unprecedented global cooperation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, stop deforestation, and keep our waterways clean. These court cases are a powerful first step to hold governments accountable and to give future generations a better chance to breathe clean air, and live in a world with white rhinos, polar bears, and coral reefs for years to come.
要减少温室气体排放, 停止毁林和保持水道清洁, 将需要前所未有的全球合作。 这些法庭案件是追究政府责任 并让子孙后代有更好的机会 呼吸清洁空气的有力第一步, 并在未来几年生活在一个 有白犀牛,北极熊和珊瑚礁 的世界中。