PGA’s Human Rights and Environment Program aims to empower parliamentarians to take action towards the protection of human rights in environmental matters, underscored by the human right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment for present and future generations.
PGA’s unique human rights-based approach centers the three core principles of environmental democracy that stem from Principle 10 of the 1992 Rio Declaration – transparency, meaning the right to access information; participation, meaning the right to meaningful participation in decision-making; and justice, meaning the right to access justice to enforce and/or redress – alongside the pressing United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda).
The Program reflects the motivation by PGA’s global membership of legislators for a human rights-based approach to environmental governance and the Sustainable Development Goals, housing two Campaigns.
Hon. Agho Oliver Bamenju
(Cameroon)
Hon.Amanza Walton Desir
(Guyana)
Hon. Mirza Ikhtiar Baig, MP
(Pakistan)
The Insights by Lawmakers on Climate Action & Oceans series (#InsightsByLawmakers) highlight ongoing efforts, national experiences, lessons learned and good practices implemented by parliamentarians to advance the goals of these Campaigns.
The Ocean covers 70 percent of the world’s surface and provides for half of the oxygen in our atmosphere. This means that every second breath we take comes from the Ocean - yet laws governing its appropriate use are almost non-existent.
Climate change threatens a range of human rights: life, water and sanitation, food security, health, housing, self-determination, culture, and development.