Background

About the environmental rights

Human rights and their connection to environmental protection are getting more attention, pushing environmental rights as the fundamental aspect of human rights. The right to a healthy environment emerges as the key to environmental rights, which is increasingly being recognized and integrated into the human rights policies of various regions globally. 

After the adoption of Stockholm Declaration on the Human Environment in United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (1972), the right to a healthy environment began to appear in regional instruments such as the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (1981), the San Salvador Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights (1988), the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention (1998)), the Arab Charter on Human Rights (2004), the ASEAN Declaration on Human Rights (2012), and the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin American and the Caribbean (Escazú Agreement (2018)).

Finally, in July 2022, the United Nations General Assembly acknowledged the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment as a human right. This declaration culminated efforts that began with the UN Human Rights Council’s resolution 48/13 the previous year. The recognition is now preserved in the UN General Assembly resolution 76/300. With 161 votes in favor, no votes against, and 8 abstentions, this GA resolution creates a significant victory for advocates of the right to a healthy environment worldwide.

What does the right to a healthy environment encompass? It consists of both substantive and procedural components, as depicted in the following illustration. The right ensures that individuals can live in an environment that sustains their health and well-being, supported by legal and systematic processes.

Image 1. Substantive and procedural elements in the rights of a healthy environment

Environmental rights in Southeast Asia

In Southeast Asia, the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) has identified the need for the region to have an instrument that guarantees environmental rights across the region. To support this mission, in November 2022, the Ad Hoc Preparatory Session of the ASEAN Environmental Rights Framework and the Interim Working Group (IWG) Meeting were conducted, which was then marked as the first milestone of the ASEAN Environmental Rights Working Group (AER WG) official establishment in 2023.

AER WG’s mission is to support the preparation of a framework on environmental rights in ASEAN, consult with relevant bodies, and facilitate the implementation of its functions. This current first-ever environmental rights instrument development is led by AICHR, with technical support from the Asian Research Institute for Environmental Law (ARIEL), UNEP, ESCAP, and OHCHR. 

AER WG comprises secretarial bodies, the UN, experts, and civil society groups as follows:

1. AICHR Representatives: From Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Laos, and Vietnam.
2. ASEAN Bodies: ASEAN Secretariat, ASEAN Senior Officials on the Environment (ASOEN), ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC), ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), ASEAN Disability Forum (ADF).
3. CSOs and Experts: Representative, Asia Pacific Network of Environmental Defenders (APNED), Asia-Pacific Centre for Environmental Law (APCEL), ARIEL, ASEAN Youth Forum (AYF), Child Rights Coalition Asia (CRC), ICEL, Thailand Environment Institute (TEI), USAID – WWF Mekong For the Future (MFF).
4. UN Bodies: ESCAP, OHCHR, UNEP.

ASEAN Youth Forum role in AER WG

ASEAN Youth Forum (AYF) has played a crucial role as one of the representatives of Civil Society Organizations in the AER WG. To ensure the diversity of voices in this important policy-making process, ASEAN Youth Forum (AYF) formed the ASEAN Youth Forum for Climate Justice (AYFCJ) which consists of three (3) youth delegates acting as focal points to assist and contribute to the draft development throughout the process; Fithriyyah from Indonesia, Kyn Mallorca from the Philippines, and Max Han Kai Ding from Malaysia. Their consultation work covers a wide range of engagement with various groups of young people, and it adds the diversity of youth inputs to the environmental rights draft. Ultimately, their presence in the working group holds a vital position as they represent the only youth organization involved in this policy-making process.

Objective

1. To bring international environmental and human rights norms into a new regional framework. 
2. To strengthen the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration (AHRD) commitment to a safe, clean, and sustainable environment.
3. To enhance the rights-based environmental decision-making in ASEAN.
4. To establish protections for environmental rights defenders in Southeast Asia, who frequently face criminalization and attacks.

Processes

This first-ever environmental rights instrument is being developed through collaborative discussion between the AER WG and other bodies within and outside ASEAN and the UN to ensure a comprehensive approach and strengthen the coherence of the regional framework. Since 2023, the working group has conducted five meetings and one public stakeholder consultation with the output being a draft of the ASEAN declaration on the right to a safe, clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. The draft is now under further discussion within AICHR, to consult with relevant ASEAN Sectoral Bodies, especially the ASEAN Senior Officials on Environment (ASOEN) for consideration before its eventual adoption by ASEAN Member States (AMS).

Timeline

1. Establishment:

AICHR

1. (Bangkok, Thailand) November 21-22, 2022 Ad Hoc Preparatory Session of the Environmental Rights Framework and Inaugural Working Group Meeting.
2. (Jakarta, Indonesia) 28 February – 3 March 2023 Endorsement of the Terms of Reference establishing the Working Group for the preparation of the Environmental Rights Framework in ASEAN at the 36th Meeting of AICHR.

2. Development:

ASEAN Environmental Rights Working Group (AER WG)

1. (Bangkok, Thailand) August 21-22, 2023 1st Meeting of the ASEAN Environmental Rights Working Group.
2. (Bangkok, Thailand) November 21-22, 2023 2nd Meeting of the ASEAN Environmental Rights Working Group.
3. (Manila, The Philippines) February 27-28, 2024 3rd Meeting of the ASEAN Environmental Rights Working Group.
4. Public consultation is open for stakeholders to provide inputs for the recent draft (until 30 April 2024).
5. (Jakarta, Indonesia) May 6-8, 2024 4th meeting of the ASEAN Environmental Rights Working Group.
6. (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) July 1-3, 2024 5th meeting of the ASEAN Environmental Rights Working Group.

AICHR 

AICHR consults the final document from AER WG to ASEAN Sectoral Bodies on Environment (ASOEN).

3. Adoption

The document aims to be adopted by the AMS.

AYF Consultation Meetings and Contributions

AYFCJ organized four independent consultation meetings with youth activists and AYF youth network, along with two joint consultations with partners. Their reports have significantly contributed to the draft development, in which they were able to identify key challenges and solutions for environmental rights in Southeast Asia, such as information access, decision-making participation, and legal protection for environmental defenders, especially Indigenous communities. 

1. First consultation (November 7, 2023)

The first consultation meeting was conducted by inviting eight external youth key stakeholders aged between 18 – 30 years old from Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, Timor Leste, and the Philippines including indigenous youth, civil society, legal experts, and psychosocial support professionals. They obtained free, prior, and informed consent from all stakeholders before conducting the interview and youth identities are anonymized for safety purposes. The methodology for the first consultation was designed to ensure inclusivity and comprehensiveness, aiming to capture a broad spectrum of perspectives on environmental rights within ASEAN. The consultation was mainly done through group interviews and structured around the key principles of the Escazu Agreement. 

Read the report here.

2. Second consultation (February 7, 2024)

The second consultation has engaged around 30 youth within the AYF network to collect insights and suggestions on the zero draft of the framework (which is not publicly available).  The methodology involved open discussions where participants were free to provide input on any part of the document. They also collected inputs from an informal youth consultation through a collaboration with #InclusiveSchoolPH and AYF Open Space and created a brief report to become our advocacy materials for the AER WG meeting in February 2024. 

3. Civil Society Consultation on the ASEAN Environmental Rights Consultation Document (March 22, 2024)

This joint consultation led by APNED was organized with 10 civil society organizations (CSOs) in Southeast Asia including AYF, attended by 192 participants and 91 organizations from the Asia-Pacific region. The consultation methodology included small group discussions, resulting in output documents such as a sign-on statement and a submission, which were submitted to the public stakeholder consultation call on the UN-ESCAP website.

4. Third consultation (March 26, 2024)

The third consultation has captured a more in-depth view of our youth network, attended by 28 youth voluntarily registered from AYF’s network and public, which come from various organizations, such as the indigenous community, LGBTIQA+, feminist, and legal CSOs. The data collection methodology in this consultation was conducted through written inputs from 3 Indigenous Youth and a focus group discussion (FGD).

Participants were divided into 3 breakout rooms, each of the rooms focusing on a distinct viewpoint: youth, indigenous community, and feminist perspectives. Each group was guided by one facilitator and one rapporteur to document the discussion ideas. The consultation questions were divided into 3 main sections: 1) the recommendations for provisions to be included in the new draft, 2) the forthcoming actions for the ASEAN Environmental Rights.

The request for written submission was sent individually to Indigenous Youth from Malaysia, Cambodia, and Vietnam, with a submission deadline set for approximately 2 weeks. The written feedback was then incorporated with the FGD report, then submitted to the UN-ESCAP website as AYF stakeholder consultation submission.

Read the report here.

5. Fourth consultation (April 12, 2024) 

The fourth consultation aimed to identify key priorities for the final AER WG meeting, focusing on advocating for the inclusion of LGBTIQA+ and Indigenous communities as vulnerable groups in the declaration. This effort involved conducting policy research on Indigenous policy instruments and an interview with a queer advocate from Thailand, resulting in a document summarizing the insights and recommendations on LGBTIQA+ recognition. 

Read the LGBTIQA+ priorities here.

6. ASEAN Peoples Declaration on Environmental Rights

AYF collaborated with civil society organizations to support and endorse the ASEAN People’s Declaration on Environmental Rights. This initiative emerged from the disappointment of civil society regarding the working group’s draft, which failed to address crucial needs and fundamental elements of environmental rights. The ASEAN People’s Declaration was ultimately submitted to AICHR for consideration alongside the working group’s draft.

Read the draft here.

Sign-on to support the Peoples Declaration.

AYFCJ Media Coverage

1. Malaysia’s 2025 resolution: Adopt Asean’s first environmental rights declaration. Read here. 
2. Young Southeast Asians Are Slowly Nudging ASEAN Toward Change. Read here.
3. Speaking truth to power: the journey of youth in bolstering environmental rights in Southeast Asia. Read here.
4. Brackets of power: the fight for environmental justice in Southeast Asia. Read here.
5. Rights groups call for greater public input in ASEAN environmental rights framework. Read here.
6. Civil Society Calls On ASEAN to Strengthen Protection for Vulnerable Groups in New Environmental Rights Declaration. Read here.
7. The ASEAN Declaration On The Right To A Safe, Clean, (Healthy) and Sustainable Environment. Read here.
8. ASEAN Environmental Rights FAQ sheet. Access here.

Other Related Articles and Media Publications:

1. ASEAN declaration on enviromental rights. Access the draft here.
2. ASEAN begins preparation for regional environmental rights framework. Read here.
3. The 1st ASEAN Environmental Rights Working Group Meeting. Read here.
4. The 2nd ASEAN Environmental Rights Working Group Meeting. Read here.
5. The 3rd ASEAN Environmental Rights Working Group Meeting. Read here.
6. The 4th ASEAN Environmental Rights Working Group Meeting. Read here.
7. ASEAN’s Environment of Denial: New Declaration, Same Old Story. Read here.
8. ASEAN Environmental Rights Declaration Needs Transparency. Read here.
9. A Critical Week for Environmental Rights in Southeast Asia. Read here.
10. [Press Release] AICHR should adopt a significantly more comprehensive ASEAN Declaration on Environmental Rights. Read here.
11. Environmental Rights in the ASEAN. Read here. 
12. AICHR Regional Dialogue and Consultation on Advancing Development of Environmental Rights concludes. Read here.

Photos and Documentation