PERMANENT COUNCIL OF THE
ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES
COMMITTEE ON JURIDICAL AND POLITICAL AFFAIRS
OEA/Ser.G
CP/CAJP/INF.1/03
17 November 2003
Original: Spanish
PRESENTATION OF MR. VICTOR RICCO FROM THE
CENTER ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE ENVIRONMENT (CEDHA)
ON THE SUBJECT OF RESOLUTION AG/RES. 1926 (XXXIII-O/03)
“HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE ENVIRONMENT IN THE AMERICAS”1/
(Meeting of the CAJP of November 20th, 2003)
1.
The translation of this document was provided by CEDHA.
PRESENTATION OF MR. VICTOR RICCO FROM THE
CENTER ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE ENVIRONMENT (CEDHA)
ON THE SUBJECT OF RESOLUTION AG/RES. 1926 (XXXIII-O/03)
“HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE ENVIRONMENT IN THE AMERICAS”
Honorable representatives of the member States to the Organization of American States,
advisor of the Office of the Secretary General, representatives from the Inter-American Commission
on Human Rights and of the Sustainable Development and Environment Unit, representatives from
other agencies of the Organization of American States, and colleagues from other civil society
organizations present today at this very important discussion on human rights and environment in the
Americas.
First, I would like to thank the Chair and the staff of the Secretariat to the Committee on
Juridical and Political Affairs for facilitating, once again, our participation in this meeting, and for the
opportunity to share with the Committee our reflections on the protection and promotion of human
rights affected by the state of the environment in the Americas. CEDHA, the organization that I
represent, has been working side by side with the Organization of American States and its various
agencies, since our founding in 1999, to promote the awareness of this linkage in the hemisphere. We
are very pleased to see that this issue, the link between human rights and the environment, is today
very present in the minds of all of you, and that it is firmly on the agenda of the most important
human rights and environmental agencies of the OAS.
The State of Human Rights and the Environment in the Americas
The central concern of the human rights and environment agenda is that environmental
degradation leads to human rights violations. These violations are visible in every country of the
hemisphere. They affect millions of our compatriots, and destroy the lives of individuals, families,
communities, adults and children. These violations are of even greater concern when one considers
that vulnerable communities, the poor, the dispossessed, and the marginal are suffering the greatest
burden of this degradation, a phenomenon commonly referred to as “environmental discrimination”,
or “environmental racisms”.2/
Environmental degradation provokes violence, displacement, armed conflict, guerilla
warfare, and community uprising; generating social tension, instability, poor financial investment
climates, and generally unstable societies. A quick look around us in most any Latin American city,
and even in some North American cities provides undeniable evidence that the environment and its
effects on people is a most severe and urgent problem. Rich and poor alike are affected by the
collapse of our ecosystems, not only in natural resource rich areas, but also right in the center of our
cities. Thousands of people die daily of critical health problems caused by the poor quality of our air,
water and land. Yet we generally fail to recognize that such deaths are due to environmental
problems.
Pesticides spread in the coca fields of Colombia affect the health of entire villages; in the
shantytowns of Brazil drinking water and sanitation present enormous health risks to local dwellers;
the coasts of Caribbean nations are regularly destroyed by changing weather patterns, and are at risk
2. See: Environmental Discrimination: Issues and Themes, by Jorge Daniel Taillant, CEDHA. 2000.
www.cedha.org.ar/docs/doc24.doc; Spanish version: www.cedha.org.ar/docs/doc24s.doc
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of permanent flooding due to rising seas; in Mexico deteriorating air quality impacts the health of
millions of people; in Argentina, uncontrolled lumbering is causing tragic flooding, loss of life and
property; in Peru, Chile, Ecuador, and many other countries of the hemisphere, irresponsible mining
investments are contaminating drinking water, killing mine workers and placing at risk entire
ecosystems, soiling beaches beyond use, and destroying rich biodiversity. These are but a few
examples of the enormous impacts environmental degradation is having on the health and quality of
life of our populations.
Environmental degradation has no borders. And while many ignore this problem, preferring
to believe that it is someone else’s problem, in fact, today it is everyone’s problem. We can no longer
afford to ignore its persistence, and we have the responsibility to address it. This is not simply a
problem of protecting environmental resources. The problem is social, it is economic, it is political
and it is environmental. Environmental degradation affects our well-being, our economy, our water,
our air, our health, and our quality of life. It impedes the realization of our human rights.
Some argue that environmental degradation and its undesirable impact on people is somehow
a prerequisite for development and that we must contaminate in order to become richer, more
powerful, more economically wealthy. Others claim that environmental regulations are an invention
by some countries to curb the development of others (an argument we frequently hear from our
hemisphere’s countries at international trade negotiations such as those of the FTAA or WTO). These
arguments have even led some to persecute, torture and even kill environmental activists.3/ I ask you,
what good is economic development if we decrease our quality of life, if we cannot drink clean and
safe drinking water, if we cannot breathe clean and safe air, if we do not have clean lands for our
families and communities to grow and develop?
The human rights and environment agenda is focused on ensuring that we understand that the
environment is an inalienable context in which we all live, and that the exercise of most of our human
rights depends on its preservation and protection. A harmonious relationship between the
environment and people is critical to our equitable, and sustainable development. We have the means
and mechanisms to protect our environment and the human rights that depend on its preservation. We
have good legislation, we have good human rights and environmental institutions, we have capacity,
we have access to justice channels. What is important is that we use these wisely.
We have come a long way in a very short time in the development of a Human Rights and
Environment Agenda for the Americas, and more importantly in the development of human rights
protection mechanisms for, and awareness of how environmental degradation impedes the realization
of human rights.
Only four years ago, before the OAS’s first Resolution (1819) on Human Rights and the
Environment was passed, the mention of a human rights and environment agenda raised doubts
amongst human rights and environmental protection actors, at the Commission and at the Sustainable
Development and Environment Unit, and amongst member states, as to the significance and relativity
of this agenda to their work responsibilities. Today, we are before a very different situation. These
doubts have been abolished.
3.
See: El Costo de Defender el Planeta. CEDHA, 2002 (version 2003 soon available). www.cedha.org.ar
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The Commission on Human Rights has fully understood the importance of this linkage and
has taken concrete steps to develop in-house capacity and knowledge on this agenda. Commission
attorneys have sharpened their legal know-how, studied, researched, and even published on human
rights and environment issues. Today, the Commission staff is undoubtedly in a better position to
address human rights and environment issues through the application of their tested and effective
human rights protection mechanisms.
The Sustainable Development and Environment Unit has also gained important ground in the
advancement of their own work in this field, and through its rapprochement to the Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights, to civil society organizations, to other multilateral agencies, and
through the development of its own capacity on this linkage is paving new grounds towards a more
multidimensional approach to environmental protection.
As we examine how other multilateral agencies such as the United Nations, the World Bank,
the IMF, and others are changing their approach to development assistance, we are beginning to see
that human rights are becoming a central focus of all development programs. We are beginning to
understand that development itself is intrinsically related to the realization of all human rights, and
that alleviating poverty and improving quality of life begins with a look at the state of the
environment.
Reflection on Implementation of Resolution 1926 on Human Rights and the Environment in the
Americas
Resolution 1926 called on OAS agencies to promote collaboration on human rights and
environment between OAS agencies; with other multilateral institutions, including the United
Nations, World Bank, the IDB, and other specialized agencies; and with civil society. In this respect,
the OAS, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Sustainable Development and
Environment Unit, in particular, have been active in their rapprochement to institutions that have
included human rights and environment on their agendas.
We have seen since the various resolutions on Human Rights and Environment that;

There is a clear and increasing tendency to recognize the relationship between the state
of the environment and the effective realization of human rights and that environmental
problems are causing human rights violations;

The Inter-American Human Rights System (primarily the Court and the Commission)
have recognized this important relationship and have taken action to address it;

The various agencies of the OAS are working to harmonize agendas and exchange ideas
with respect to this linkage and how it affects their programmatic work;

The OAS and member states have taking concrete steps to facilitate public participation
and access to information to society, critical to the environment and human rights
linkage;
Future Considerations
The environment, the state of the environment, and its impacts on our populations is a top
priority of the development agenda. The human rights and environment agenda that has materialized
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over the last four years in the Inter-American System, has largely to do with the concern we all have
that our development be equitable, and sustainable, and that it contribute to improving our quality of
life.
The human rights and environmental agencies of the OAS are becoming more able to address
the types of problems that our societies of the hemisphere are facing, such as contaminated drinking
water, disappearing forest lands, loss of biodiversity, deteriorating cultural links to the environment,
deteriorating air quality, contaminated lands, and many other damages to human life caused by
environmental degradation.
I would like to leave you with a short list of critical issues that I hope you note and keep with
you and think about as you come before new proposals, new resolutions, new projects, and new
agendas, in your day-to-day activities, and that you will continue to assign great importance to this
fundamental intersection between human rights and the environment.

The OAS must continue to explore this area of overlap, giving continued mandate to the
Commission and to the Sustainable Development and Environment Unit, and to other
agencies working on areas such as Health, Sanitation, Human Security, Indigenous
Communities, Women and Children, among others, to develop in each, a deeper
understanding as to how they are affected by the state of the environment;

We must understand sustainable development from a rights-based perspective in which
the realization of human rights is conditioned upon a set of desirable circumstances to
which we strive; the environment is a key pillar and its state will largely determine the
degree to which we realize our rights;

We must protect not only the environment but those who defend and preserve it being
careful not to place economic development above overall social development; economic
gain should never come at the expense of someone’s human rights;

Much is still to be done in terms of access to information and civil society participation
in policy-making and decision-making; these rights, which are now only loosely codified
in our existing Inter-American legislation, but which are a critical pillar of environmental
and human rights protection must be guaranteed; we hope to see the member states of the
OAS take a bold step towards the establishment of rights to information and participation
in the Americas.
CP12000E01