SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS AND THE ENVIRONMENTAL DIMENSIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECTION
Keywords:
Sustainable development goals, human rights, environmental law, international law, right to a healthy environment, 2030 Agenda, SDG-13, climate action, accountability mechanisms, Resolution 76/300.Abstract
This article analyses the relationship between the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the environmental dimensions of international human rights law from an international legal perspective. The study examines the normative convergence between the SDG framework and the human rights system, the intersection of environmentally oriented goals - including SDG-6 (clean water), SDG-13 (climate action), SDG-14 and SDG-15 (biodiversity) - with human rights obligations, and the practical implications of the recognition of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment as an autonomous human right under UN General Assembly Resolution 76/300 of 2022. The research was conducted using legal analysis, comparative and systematic methods, with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, UN General Assembly resolutions, and human rights bodies' reports serving as primary sources. The findings demonstrate that, despite the real and significant normative convergence between the SDG system and the human rights system, the political nature of the goals and the absence of mandatory enforcement mechanisms remain the principal factors limiting their effectiveness. According to the 2025 UN report, only 35% of SDG targets are on track, with environmental goals showing the weakest progress. The article calls upon the international community to develop new legal instruments formally linking environmental SDGs with human rights obligations and supported by binding monitoring mechanisms.
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