17 September  |  12:00-12:30 ICT

New dawn for sustainable environment and development in ASEAN?

Organized by:

• AICHR Malaysia

• AICHR Thailand

• Special Rapporteur on the right to development,

Background

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The ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) is set to adopt two important declarations in 2025: the Declaration on the Right to a Safe, Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment; and the Declaration on Promoting the Right to Development and Peace, Towards Realising Inclusive and Sustainable Development. These declarations seek to elaborate and facilitate the implementation of the two rights in ASEAN. 

The AICHR’s adoption of these declarations will take place against the backdrop of two landmark climate change advisory opinions issued by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in July 2025. 

Both advisory opinions are directly relevant to the operationalisation of the two declarations in ASEAN for several reasons. First, the IACtHR’s advisory opinion recognised the right to a healthy climate as a component of the right to a healthy environment. It also deduced state obligations in relation to the right to science and the recognition of local, traditional and Indigenous knowledge; the right to access to information; the right to political participation; the right to access to justice; and the right to defend human rights.

Second, the ICJ concluded that states have a binding obligation under, among others, international human rights law to protect the climate system and other parts of the environment from anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. 

Third, both courts saw the importance of “sustainable development” to combat climate change. While the IACtHR acknowledged sustainable development as a path to protecting both human rights and the environment, the ICJ recognised sustainable development as one of the general principles to interpret state obligations. 

Third, the IACtHR as well as the ICJ underlined that states have a duty to regulate private actors, including businesses, within their territory or jurisdiction to address climate change. 

What do these regional and international developments mean for governance in ASEAN to achieve sustainable environment and sustainable development? This spotlight session will unpack the implications of these normative developments for states, companies and other actors in the region.

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Key Objectives

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This session will unpack:

• The implications of the climate change advisory opinions of the IACtHR and the ICJ for states and businesses in ASEAN.

• The potential contribution of the Declaration on the Right to a Safe, Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment, and the Declaration on Promoting the Right to Development and Peace, Towards Realising Inclusive and Sustainable Development in achieving sustainable environment and sustainable development in ASEAN. 

• The role of youth, women, Indigenous Peoples, environmental human rights defenders and civil society organisations in ASEAN as agents of change in supporting the implementation of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment and the right to development.

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Guiding Questions​​​​

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• What should states and companies in ASEAN do differently to act in line with the climate change advisory opinions of the IACtHR and ICJ? 

• How will the two AICHR declarations support the implementation of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment and the right to development?

• What role could youth, women, Indigenous Peoples, environmental human rights defenders and civil society organisations play in achieving sustainable environment and sustainable development in ASEAN?

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