UNIVERSAL ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS
In Honor of the 2009 UN Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change
Diane Perlman, PhD
On December 10, 2009
- It will bethe 61st anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human RIghts, spearheaded by Eleanor Roosevelt in the aftermath of World War II.
- President Barack Obama will be receiving his Nobel Peace Prize
- It will be the fourth day of the UN 2009Climate ChangeConference in Copenhagen, with 240 NGO events and 2000 other events scheduled during the 2 week conference.
- The streets in Copenhagen and around the world will be filled with people, in the biggest demonstration of global unity calling for a sound treaty and global actions to remedy the greatest crisis ever faced by humanity.
As the Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change coincides with Human Rights Day, let's consider whether our 2009 world calls for amending the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and whether it is appropriate to elevate our basic needs for survival to the level of universal human rights.
Here is a draft proposal to amend the UDHR in honor of Copenhagen. Suggestions, endorsements or strategies for its use are most welcome in comments.
UNIVERSAL ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS
Recommended Amendments to the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
In Honor of the
2009 UN Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change
Diane Perlman, PhD
PREAMBLE
Whereas the 1948 the "recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,"
Whereas in 2009, recognition the world has changed dramatically in ways not imagined, such that catastrophic climate change threatens the very rights declared in 1948, we recognize that human rights now depend on protecting our environment for the welfare of all living now and in the future, and that freedom to live in harmony with our environment is the basis for all other human rights, necessary to enjoy life, health, freedom, justice and peace.
Whereas it is essential, if humans not to be compelled to suffer effects of melting ice, rising sea levels, disappearing islands, coastlines and living space, intense storms, fires, droughts, and starvation, creating mental health problems, civil wars, and hundreds of millions of environmental refugees, that environmental "rights should be protected by the rule of law,"
