Page 14 - รายงานการศึกษาวิจัย เรื่อง ความสัมพันธ์ระหว่างสิทธิมนุษยชนและสิ่งแวดล้อมเพื่อการคุ้มครองสิทธิมนุษยชนที่เกี่ยวกับสิ่งแวดล้อมอย่างยั่งยืน

ความสัมพันธ์ระหว่างสิทธิมนุษยชนและสิ่งแวดล้อม
เพื่อการคุ้มครองสิทธิมนุษยชนที่เกี่ยวกับสิ่งแวดล้อมอย่างยั่งยืน

There are two different approaches in applying human rights with environment. The first
one is by using the human rights, both substantive rights and procedural rights, which are already
existed and guaranteed to apply with environmental problems from case to case. Limitation of this

approach is that, as long as the problem does not yet directly create negative impacts on human,
despite of devastating impacts on environment, mechanism on human rights cannot be applied
because human rights belong to human, not nature. The second approach is by establishing the new

category of human rights called the right to environment or the right to good / healthy / decent /
favorable environment. Limitation of this approach is that the right to environment lacks the consis-

tency as being human rights, since some developed countries in Europe and America disagree with
the creation of the new type of human rights as the right to environment.

Recognition of Right to Environment at International and
Regional Levels

Recognition of the right to environment and enforcement of human rights for environmental
protection under international law principles at the international level can be considered under three

following categories:
1) International customs – The right to environment is not developed as international
customs due to the lack one factor on common practices among countries.

2) General principles of law – There is no such principles in the area of human rights,
therefore, at present, it is impossible to analyze the general principles of law for the right to environment.
3) International conventions – Among international documents on human rights relating to

environment, there is no legally or non-legally binding document which recognizes that the right to
environment is one type of human rights even though they accept that environmental protection

unavoidably has connection with human rights. Among 23 international documents on environment
relating to human rights, there is no document which clearly states that the right to environment
maintains the status of human rights. Besides, among 5 non-legally binding documents, there is no

document which states that the right to environment is human rights.

Acceptance in the right to environment and application of human rights with environmental
protection under the principles of international law at the regional level can be considered according
to three following regions:

1) Europe – Almost all documents on environment apply the procedural rights with the
environmental protection. For the substantive rights, there is “right to live in good environment”

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