PREFACE The Reference on Human Rights and the Environment At the 11th Annual Meeting of the APF held in Fiji in August 2006, Forum Councillors decided to formulate an ACJ reference on human rights and the environment. The Secretariat prepared draft terms of reference that were subsequently adopted by the APF in February 2007. The terms of reference asked the Advisory Council of Jurists to advise and make recommendations on a variety of issues including: the application of existing human rights to address environmental concerns; the obligations of States and non-State actors for environmental harms; and in the absence of an existing right, the value of elaborating a human rights to an environment of a particular quality. Terms of reference 1. Whether a right to an environment of a particular quality exists either in international human rights instruments, or in customary international law; 2. Any existing human rights that may be used to address environmental concerns; 3. The nature and scope of the right to life and whether this right may be used to address environmental harms; a. how international human rights instruments have defined the ‘right to life’; b. the nature and scope of the right to life in customary international law as it relates to the condition of the environment c. the extent to which environmental harms that affect human life violate human rights law; 4. The nature and scope of the responsibility of a State to protect its citizens from environmental damage that may be detrimental to human life, where that damage is caused not only by: a. the State, but also by; b. non-State actors who undertake public or private projects; 5. Whether international legal instruments, or international customary law, impose obligations on non-State actors to protect human rights. The ACJ is asked to consider what mechanisms exist to address such violations. 6. Whether a State has an obligation in international law to control activities within its jurisdiction that might cause environmental harms that undermine the right to life in another State; 7. Whether a State has an obligation in international law to protect its citizens from violations to their right to life that are caused by environmental harms originating either in the territory of another State, or in international air or water space. The ACJ is asked to consider what mechanisms exist to address such violations. 8. In the context of environmental harms to human life, what additional value would there be in having a specific right to environment.” -7-