Human rights cannot be “fully realized” without the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, says Maldives Foreign Secretary, Abdul Ghafoor Mohamed.

Speaking on behalf of Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid at the high-level panel discussion on the sidelines of the ongoing 46th Session of the Human Rights Council, Foreign Secretary Ghafoor emphasized on the incumbent administration of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s efforts to protect the environment and enhance marine health.

Titled “The Case for the Universal Recognition of the Right to a Safe, Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment”, the high-level panel discussion was organized by the Universal Rights Group and a number of high-level dignitaries and Member States of the Core Group on Human Rights and Environment were in attendance at the virtual event.

During his address, the foreign secretary called on the UN Member States to back the consultative process by the Core Group on Human Rights and Environment in order to strengthen the cooperative action taken to recognize the rights associated with the environment.

Shedding light on to the extensive discussions revolving around the relationship between human rights and the environment within the international arena, Ghafoor stated that Maldives played a pivotal role in bringing the issues of climate change and human rights to the forefront of international debates and the subsequent appointment of the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Environment in 2012.

In addition, he also emphasized the multi-faceted nature of environmental degradation as well as its effects on the people’s security, specifically focused in the domestic context and went on to shed light on the vulnerability of Maldives as a country built on an ecosystem always threatened by extreme climate events like sea-level rise.

The high-level panel discussion featured a report revolving around the subject of discussion by David Boyd, the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment, his predecessor John Knox and Marc Limon, the Executive Director of Universal Rights Group.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs revealed that the panel was held to inspire discussions on identifying possible results of recognizing the right to environment.