The Human Right To A Clean, Healthy & Sustainable Environment

Earth Matters

The U.N. General Assembly — the highest UN body that wields considerable influence over its member states — adopted a historic resolution: the recognition that it’s a universal human right to live in a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, on the 29th of July 2022. The resolution has been five decades in the making, and is described as an important tool for accountability and climate justice. But as a non-legally binding resolution, can it still serve as a catalyst for change and climate action? What is Malaysia’s constitutional position on environmental rights? We discuss this and more with Emeritus Professor Datuk Dr Hj Shad Saleem Faruqi, Holder of the Tunku Abdul Rahman Chair, at the University of Malaya, and Kiu Jia Yaw, the Secretary of the CERAH Anti-Haze Action Group, and Co-chair of the Malaysian CSO-SDG Alliance.