LWVUS Joins Letter to Urge Appointment of a Woman from the Global South as UN Special Rapporteur

The co-signing organizations believe that it is time that the Human Rights Council appoints a woman from the Global South as the new Special Rapporteur on the issue of human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment, announced by the Secretariat of the Human Rights Council in its Note Verbale of 18 October 2023 

Geneva, 30th November 2023

To:
Consultative Group of the Human Rights Council President of the Human Rights Council
Permanent Representatives of the Members States of the Human Rights Council

Subject: Appointment of the Special Rapporteur on the issue of human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment - time for the Council to appoint a woman from the Global South

Excellencies,

We, the undersigned organizations, respectfully write to you with regard to the upcoming appointment of the Special Rapporteur on the issue of human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment, announced by the Secretariat of the Human Rights Council in its Note Verbale of 18 October 2023. Our organizations work at the intersection of human rights and environmental protection across the world.

Since the creation of the Independent Expert on human rights and the environment in 2012, and later of the Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment in 2015, the Human Rights Council has played a central role in addressing environmental disruption through human rights lenses. This mandate, in conjunction with the Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes, and the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change, is essential to understand the human rights impacts of the triple planetary crisis (biodiversity loss, climate change, and pollution), elevate the plight and analysis of frontline communities, and provide States with guidance for effective human rights-based environmental action.

The previous Special Rapporteurs on human rights and the environment, Professor John Knox and Professor David Boyd, have contributed significantly to clarifying States’ human rights obligations in the context of the environment, and laid the foundation for the global recognition of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment by the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly.

Yet, we shall not ignore that the Human Rights Council has never appointed a woman to the environmental mandate, with all five mandate holders to date being men. In addition, both former and current Special Rapporteurs on the issue of human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment are experts from North America.

In this regard, both the current and previous Special Rapporteurs on human rights and the environment have shared with Member States their hope for a well-qualified woman from the Global South to be appointed as their successor.

In all resolutions that it adopted since 2012, the Council referred to the importance of tackling the gender aspects of human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment. The Council has explicitly recognized in Resolution 41/6, that “women remain underrepresented…in several United Nations bodies and mechanisms… noting that balanced gender representation is an essential step towards bringing about a structural change needed to advance substantive gender equality and gender parity…” As the United Nations Member States have repeatedly recognized "without the active participation of women and incorporation of women's perspectives at all levels of decision-making, the goals of equality, development and peace cannot be achieved" (Beijing Declaration, para 181).

In this context, we believe it is time that the Human Rights Council appoints a woman from the Global South as the new Special Rapporteur on the issue of human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment.

While of course the selection process should be guided by the criteria outlined in the annex to Human Rights Council resolution 5/1, we believe, in line with paragraph 40 of the annex, that gender balance and equitable geographic representation with respect to previous mandate holders should also be an essential principle in the choice by the Consultative Group, the President of the Human Rights Council, and the Council itself. Especially considering that there are many women in the Global South with the expertise, experience and abilities that this very important mandate requires.

Excellencies, we are confident that, with your expertise and integrity, you will be able to appoint a woman expert from the Global South to build on the pivotal work of previous mandate holders in order to continue to advance the respect, protection and fulfillment of human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment and to the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.

Full list of signatories in attachment