Gianluca Esposito’s speaking notes
1st meeting of the Ad hoc Multidisciplinary Group on Environment
Strasbourg, 25-27 September 2024 (Agora - Room G03)
It is a pleasure to address you at this inaugural meeting of the Ad Hoc Multidisciplinary Group on the Environment (GME). As the newly appointed Director General of Human Rights and Rule of Law, I assure you of my and my colleagues’ commitment and support throughout your work.
The triple planetary crisis we are faced with - climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss – calls from stronger action by the international community. The CoE received a strong mandate from our Heads of State and Government, as stated in the Reykjavik Declaration. This Group of experts benefits from this important political mandate to prepare the Strategy on the environment and its Action Plan, promoting multilateral cooperation. We must act now.
For decades, the Council of Europe has played a pioneering role in environmental governance, establishing vital conventions, standards, and programs. We are now at a critical juncture, where further development of legal instruments to protect the environment is not only timely but imperative. Let me take this opportunity to highlight the key environmental initiatives currently underway within our Organisation.
The Committee of Ministers, at their last meeting in May this year adopted a declaration marking the 75th anniversary of the Council of Europe, underscored key priorities in this area:
Preparing a Council of Europe Strategy on the Environment mobilizing all the resources of the organisation
Assess the need and feasibility of new legal instruments addressing human rights and environmental protection.
Finalise the preparation of a Convention on the Protection of the Environment through Criminal Law (by end of the year).
The Council is deeply committed to enhancing legal frameworks that recognize the intersectionality between environmental sustainability and human rights. In 2023, the Committee of Ministers tasked the Steering Committee for Human Rights (CDDH) with exploring a groundbreaking legal instrument on human rights and the environment. This could take the form of a new protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights, a protocol to the European Social Charter, or even standalone convention. You will be hearing more from the Chair of the CDDH herself in the course of this meeting.
The European Court of Human Rights has adjudicated over 300 environment-related cases, applying key human rights provisions, such as the right to life and the right to respect for private and family life, to issues like pollution, environmental disasters, and public participation in environmental decision-making. As you all know, a landmark ruling came in the Grand Chamber's April 2024 judgment in the case of Verein KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz v. Switzerland, where the Court recognized that Article 8 of the ECHR guarantees protection against the severe impacts of climate change.
In addition, the European Committee of Social Rights has been addressing environmental issues within the context of the European Social Charter, especially concerning the right to health.
I would also like to briefly mention our increasing engagement in cooperation projects aimed at helping member States tackle environmental challenges through the application of human rights instruments.
In the course of your meeting, you will consider a compendium on the full array of activities of the Organisation. Here coordination is essential to ensure coordinated actions across its institutions to provide robust support and guidance to member States as they confront the existential challenges posed by environmental degradation.
The Strategy you will be preparing is very important in this respect. We need to promote a multidisciplinary, cross-sectoral and integrated approach.
The time frame for your work has an important milestone, the Committee of Ministers ministerial session in May 2025 where a package of environment related decisions could be taken by the ministers including the adoption of the Council of Europe Strategy, the adoption of the criminal law convention on the protection of the environment, a decision on the elaboration of one or more human rights instruments on the environment, and the setting up of an Environment Trust Fund which will be a significant operational financial tool to achieve our aims.
Thank you, and I wish you all the best in your important deliberations.
