Right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable ocean

Humans depend heavily on the oceans, not only for their food supply, but also for climate regulation.* They also support biodiversity and provide invaluable cultural, economic and recreational benefits. However, marine ecosystems are severely threatened by multiple pressures such as plastic pollution, climate change, overfishing, industrialization, marine habitat degradation and accelerated biodiversity loss.

 

*The oceans absorb about 90% of the excess heat generated by greenhouse gas emissions, playing a crucial role in stabilizing the global climate. Every day, increased burning of fossil fuels releases more carbon dioxide, exacerbating the greenhouse effect and warming the planet. When the oceans absorb too much heat, their ability to regulate the climate weakens, compromising their ecological balance.

 

These ecological crises directly threaten fundamental human rights, endangering the livelihoods, food security and well-being of communities around the world.

 

Therefore, we must recognize the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable ocean as an integral part of the right to a healthy environment. Given that the focus is usually on the terrestrial part of the planet in the fight for environmental protection, it is particularly important to recognize the specific importance of the oceans. Moreover, like the right to a healthy environment of which it is a part, the right to a healthy ocean is interconnected with several other human rights, including the rights to life, health, food, water and an adequate standard of living. It also encompasses procedural rights such as access to environmental information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice.

International human rights experts and environmental advocates are increasingly emphasizing the need to protect the human right to a healthy environment in the context of ocean management. Recognizing the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable ocean would offer several benefits. It would underscore the particular importance of ocean management and protection, ensuring obligations for States to prevent marine degradation, promote biodiversity, manage fisheries sustainably and mitigate the impacts of climate change. It would foster more inclusive decision-making processes by ensuring that vulnerable and marginalized groups, particularly those dependent on the sea or living in coastal areas, can access information, meaningfully participate in decision-making and obtain justice. It would also hold the private sector accountable for its environmental impacts, requiring companies to exercise due diligence and establish transparent redress mechanisms.

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Overall, this right supports global efforts to combat climate change, protect biodiversity and promote sustainable development, thereby contributing to the well-being of present and future generations.

Sources:

1. The human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable ocean, Nathan J. Bennett, Elisa Morgera & David Boyd
2. Ocean Hub's Environmental Rights Page: Environmental and Human Rights Law | One Ocean Hub