The Right to Breathe : An Examination of How Human Rights Can Be Applied to Guarantee Access to Clean Air

Abstract

Access to clean air is vital for human health. Still, more than 90 per cent of people in the world live in areas where exposure to air pollution exceeds the WHO Air Quality Guidelines, making outdoor air pollution is the most significant environmental threat to human health. In 2016 alone, 4.2 million people died prematurely as a consequence of being exposed to polluted air.

The primary focus of this thesis is to examine how existing international human rights law might be applied in order to protect access to clean air. It will start by examining why the international regulation of the atmosphere under international environmental law is not sufficient enough and also discuss non-state actors, such as corporations, under international law. The main focus of this thesis is to examine the jurisprudence from international human rights courts in order to analyse how human rights have been applied to accommodate environmental claims, and what obligations this puts upon states.

The findings of this thesis show that regulation of the atmosphere is fragmented both in terms of substances regulated and in geographical applicability. Today, there is no global instrument regulating the protection of the atmosphere. Additionally, air pollution is a multifaceted problem with many sources and private actors, such as corporations, contribute significantly to the creation of air pollution. However, non-state actors cannot be bound by international law. Hence, states must also regulate non-state actors in order to not violate human rights.

Exposure to polluted air can violate several well-established human rights, such as the right to life, health or privacy. This is possible due to the re-interpretation of human rights to accommodate environmental considerations. Additionally, the right to a healthy environment is recognized by the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights as well as the Protocol of San Salvador to the American Convention on Human Rights.

An examination of cases concerning human rights affected by environmental degradation concludes that states do not only have a negative duty to refrain from violating human rights, but also a positive obligation to actively protect the rights. Related to human rights and clean air, three such positive obligations can be identified; the obligation to adopt and implement a legal framework, the obligation to protect individuals against environmental harm from private actors, and the obligation to prevent transboundary pollution.