This coming July 28th marks the third anniversary of a landmark United Nations declaration that “which recognizes access to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment as a universal human right.”
It was a special moment for Costa Rica: our country, along with the Maldives, Morocco, Slovenia, and Switzerland, had presented the original text, which was eventually supported by 161 nations with 8 abstentions and no objections.
Establishing this right invites individuals, communities, and nations to work to ensure that our planet and its natural spaces remain stable and prosperous, because if this does not happen, it will inevitably affect our health and well-being.
Keeping our environment healthy means making rational use of natural resources; avoiding pollution from solid, liquid, and chemical waste; and protecting natural spaces to prevent the decline of biodiversity. It means working to slow climate change.
There are many people working, day after day, in every corner of the planet, to guarantee this human right to a healthy environment. Some do so with full awareness; others carry out their tasks without even realizing that they are fulfilling an obligation we all have toward each other. Some work on a large scale, guaranteeing the well-being of thousands; others work on a small scale, guaranteeing the rights of their small communities. In the end, all these actions together become powerful forces that must be replicated to achieve greater impact.
In our July edition, “Healthy Environment,” we will share endogenous efforts to promote healthy environments—efforts that are not imposed from above, but are born from inside the affected communities—in Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Panama. Thanks to the invitation of the Regional Coalition for a Healthy Environment and the Generations of Peace Association (ASDEPAZ), we join Mala Yerba in El Salvador and Agencia Ocote in Guatemala to learn how organizations in Belize, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Panama are managing endogenous solutions to environmental problems that guarantee the right to a healthy environment in their own communities.
What do all of these solutions have in common? They’re endogenous: they were born not from central governments or global NGOs, but from within the affected communities themselves. The projects were conceived, implemented, and cared for locally.
We invite you to learn about these actions during this month of July, so you can find not only inspiration, but also stories that tell of specific actions we can take in our communities and countries to ensure the healthy environment we all deserve.
