Recognition of the human right to a healthy environment as customary international law

This thesis proposes an approach that will allow the human right to a healthy environment to be recognised as customary international law. The right has widespread and representative acceptance, and proponents of the right have set out a pathway for its eventual inclusion in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. However, the right is not yet enshrined in any international human rights treaty or recognised as customary international law. The analysis of evidence in this thesis establishes that the right exists as a rule of customary international law, meeting the criteria for one constituent element of customary international law, but there is insufficient evidence to demonstrate that the content of the right is a general practice of states, the other constituent element of customary international law. This thesis demonstrates that the right can meet the criteria for recognition as customary international law if the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are used as evidence that the content of the right to a healthy environment is a general practice of states. This thesis establishes the connection between the SDGs, which are human rights affirming measures, and the right to a healthy environment by demonstrating that all aspects of the right are connected to the SDGs. The analysis in this thesis also shows that the SDGs meet the criteria for a general practice as required for customary international law.