Written by Sustainability… Sustainability and the environment: national policies and international agreements
Written by Sustainability… Sustainability and the environment: national policies and international agreements
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and environmental conservation standards have become a national and global charter, and they are one area in which countries express their aspirations for a better, disease-free and more prosperous tomorrow. It is an area closely related to human rights. Because the environment and sustainability – and the laws and initiatives related to them – are a reflection of human desires and dreams for a green future in which they are reassured about their health.
There is a great link between human rights, the environment and sustainability. Because providing a clean environment and healthy life – for example – is part of human rights. When the environment is exposed to pollution or deterioration, humans are directly affected. This calls us to realize that preserving natural resources and achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a basis for ensuring the continuity of life and the well-being of humanity. In the end, we must all enjoy good health and a decent life.
Environmental rights include the right to access clean water and healthy air, and the right to benefit – in a sustainable manner – from natural resources. These are equal rights for current and future generations. For this reason, there are local and international measures aimed at strengthening this interconnection between human rights in general and environmental and development rights in particular, such as climate change agreements and biodiversity conservation agreements. These agreements are a framework for protecting environmental rights and ensuring the sustainability of the lives of current and future generations.
Environmental rights also guarantee humans the right to live in an environment with unpolluted natural resources, and guarantee a healthy life in every aspect, including land, shelter, food, water, and air. These environmental rights are more comprehensive, as they guarantee humans – for example – the right to enjoy unpolluted natural landscapes.
Hence, human rights obligations – with regard to the environment – have become clearer and more acceptable. Many countries have recognized most forms of the right to a healthy environment, and this is part of international agreements and national policies. The latter – specifically – through which Egypt sought to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and clean environment standards, as these efforts came in the form of development and social initiatives and programmes.
ConstitutionEgyptSustainable
In Egypt, there are some efforts made to link human rights to the protection of the environment and natural resources, as the Egyptian Constitution included several articles related to human rights to the environment, its resources, and sustainable development and its goals, such as Article No. (78), which commits to protecting the environment and natural resources for us and future generations, and guarantees citizens the right to adequate, safe, and healthy housing, taking into account environmental privacy; In order to improve the quality of life of citizens. Likewise, Article No. (79), which affirms the right of every citizen to healthy and adequate food and clean water. Egypt also guarantees – with this article – food sovereignty in a sustainable manner, and guarantees citizens the preservation of agricultural biological diversity and the preservation of local plant species.
This constitutional trend has become a tangible reality in the form of multiple efforts to develop environmental policies and relevant laws, in addition to implementing some renewable energy generation projects, and activating initiatives to improve water and air quality. Hence, the fifth goal of “Egypt Vision 2030” came, related to environmental sustainability as an integrated and sustainable ecosystem, which stipulates the preservation of environmental resources through sustainable consumption.
Challenges and Solutions
There are, of course, challenges in every country in the world facing green transformation strategies in all fields, and one of the biggest of these challenges is water scarcity. Many countries face a shortage of suitable water for agricultural, industrial, and other necessary uses. This challenge raises the importance of using water desalination techniques, and enhancing awareness of the importance of rationalizing water consumption through the media, or through community initiatives.
Among the challenges of human rights in the field of environment and sustainability are: climate change, which prevents the implementation of all forms of human rights in this important field; Therefore, we must move to clean energy sources, and work to reduce harmful gas emissions, and this is what we saw some of in 2022, as the Egyptian presidency of the twenty-seventh Conference of the Parties (COP) – in the city of Sharm El-Sheikh – was able to direct the attention of the international community to climate issues with a regional and international dimension, including the issue of green transformation, or increasing clean energy in the general energy mix.
There, Egypt has implemented significant environmental and development initiatives in the face of climate change, including – for example – the “Sharm El Sheikh Guide to Fair Finance” initiative; Which motivates the relevant international institutions and major industrial countries to finance adaptation projects to the effects of climate change.
These are just examples of challenges in the field of environmental and development human rights, and they are challenges that require cooperation between the public and private sectors. It is also important to define effective environmental policies and strictly implement them, in addition to encouraging technological innovation. To help develop sustainable solutions, so that all citizens enjoy environmental rights. Awareness also plays an important role in modifying behaviors and changing practices. The use of resources then becomes more sustainable.
Environmental and development human rights elements
The countries of the world must take a number of executive steps on the ground; In order for the right to live – in a healthy and sustainable way – to be comprehensive and just. These steps include monitoring air quality, measuring the extent of the impact of its pollutants on human health, then evaluating the sources of these pollutants and treating them with all innovative scientific methods. Therefore, many countries are moving forward towards improving air monitoring tools, including Egypt, as it is working to measure and monitor the air in all governorates of the Republic, through the “National Network for Monitoring Ambient Air Pollutants.”
The National Network for Monitoring Ambient Air Pollutants works as a basic tool for collecting data and information about air quality, then analyzing this information and data to provide an objective picture of air quality in Egypt. So that we can compare it later with international standards.
Egypt’s projects and initiatives in the field of environmental rights and sustainability are a realistic step that has had a great resonance, not only at the regional level, but also at the international level. At the regional level, Egypt’s contributions to the “Africa Agenda 2063” remain present through the presidency of NEPAD. At the international level, we findEgypt’s effortsin the field of sustainable agriculture of interest to relevant international institutions, such as the “Global Future Council”, which in 2019 recognized Egypt’s environmental efforts, especially agroecology projects.
In the end, I see that we in Egypt are on a sustainable path, and its fruits are beginning to ripen. I am certain that the coming days will reveal more and more Egypt’s development capabilities, and that it is a pioneer in environmental rights among all Arab countries, and that it is the beating heart of Africa.
