The Philippines has called on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) human rights body and relevant sectoral bodies to advance human rights in protecting the environment and promoting sustainable development in the region.
The call was made during the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) workshop on Nov. 8 to 9 which served as a platform to lay out concrete efforts to ensure that mainstreaming human rights pertaining to the environment is guaranteed to all peoples in ASEAN.
Concerns on human rights, sustainable development goals (SDGs), and the region's recovery from COVID-19 were discussed in the workshop organized by AICHR Indonesia. It was attended by more than 100 participants.
The Philippines’ representative to AICHR and Assistant Secretary Jaime Victor Ledda chaired and moderated the session 3 of the workshop on mainstreaming human rights in SDGs on environment.
The session discussed the correlation between human rights and environmental protection, and recognized the need to address the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution, vis-a-vis their impact on the achievement of the SDGs.
Albert Salamanca, senior research fellow at the Stockholm Environment Institute, highlighted the critical need for countries to develop their respective National Adaptation Planning to address mid- and long-term priorities for climate change adaptation.
The representatives also recognized that sustainable development cannot be attained without the enjoyment of basic rights and a clean and safe environment, while noting how environmentally-sound pandemic recovery plans can shape the 21st Century economy.