The fight for UN recognition that access to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment is a human right was decades in the making. In 1972, the UN held its first Conference on the Environment in Stockholm. Last October, the Human Rights Council recognised this fundamental right, urging the UN General Assembly to do the same. Meanwhile, legal action has recently brought change at the regional and state level, with the Netherlands top court ordering the Government to cut more carbon emissions in 2019, New York state passing a constitutional amendment guaranteeing citizens a right to a “healthful environment” earlier this year, and Brazil’s supreme court declaring the Paris agreement a human rights treaty superseding national law this summer. Shortly after, 161 UN member states voted in favour of acknowledging the human right to a healthy environment. The resolution is non-binding. That said, UN resolutions have been instrumental in creating the foundations for the development of legal, ethical and political frameworks for past newly enshrined rights, including rights to water and sanitation. This new resolution will serve as a powerful signal and motivator for states to enact the right in their national laws, shifting regulation and procedures, while opening up a host of hopeful options at both the multilateral and activist level. It’s about time. Let's celebrate change 💚 . . . #healthyenvironment #humanrightswatch #econews #environmentalracism #socialjusticeeducation #cleanairnow #cleanairforall #sustainableenvironment #unitednationshumanrights #goodnewsmovement #ecoage