European regional perspective on environment and human rights

Since the Stockholm Conference in 1972, a remarkable process is noticeable in the field of environmental protection. At the normative level, the number of international treaties concluded in this field is numerous. Similarly, environmental standards in the European Union, now one of the highest in the world, have developed over decades. Despite the increased international concern for environmental protection, implementation of these standards has been less successful. Linkages between human rights and the environment are manifold. Firstly, human rights protected by the various international and regional human rights treaties may be directly affected by adverse environmental factors. Toxic smells, excessive noise, vibration might have a negative impact on the right to life, the right to respect for private and family life as well as the home, and the right to property. Secondly, adverse environmental factors may give rise to certain procedural rights for the
individual concerned, including the right of access to information, participation in decision-making, and access to justice in environmental cases. Thirdly, the protection of the environment may also be a legitimate aim justifying interference with certain individual human rights. Thus, protection of the environment may justify restrictions on the right to property. Full realization of human rights has a positive impact on the environment, while the effective enjoyment of human rights cannot be
realized without a healthy, ecologically sound and secure environment. Human rights defenders and environmental activists are linked by the common goal of reducing the reserved domain of States. Nevertheless, there is a slight friction between these two groups: environmentalists
allege that human rights defenders put human rights first, thus in their approach, human rights and the human race enjoy priority over other species and ecological processes, and the environment is regarded important only inasmuch as it benefits humans. This approach is met
with disagreement by environmentalists, who argue that human beings are not separated from, and not situated above, the natural environment they live in; and that all species should enjoy the same protection.
This paper highlights the potential for using human rights to address environmental problems. It concentrates on the issue whether, and to what extent, international law provides for a human right to an environment of a particular quality. In doing so, it starts with a brief survey of the evolution of the right to environment in universal and regional human rights treaties, either expressly or through other, closely related rights. Then it goes on to analyse the rights that might be invoked in the protection of the right to environment. The next part sets out the relevant case law of the European Court of Human Rights, focusing on Croatia and Hungary. Finally, in line with the project within the framework of which the research was conducted, the paper describes
bilateral relations (in particular bilateral treaties) between Croatia and Hungary.