For full development as human beings, exercise and enjoyment of Human Rights by all

the people is necessary. Human Rights and fundamental freedoms help us to develop our
intrinsic qualities, intelligence, talents and conscience to meet our material and spiritual needs. It
is needless to state that without the recognition of the right to education, realization of the right
to development of every human being and nation is not possible. Article 26 of the Universal
Declaration of the Human Rights (1948) inter alia states that education shall be directed to the
full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights
and fundamental freedom. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all
nations, social or religious groups and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the
maintenance of peace. Historically, education is an instrument of development and an important
factor for social change. In this view, Human Rights education is / has to be an integral part of
the right to education. Of late, it is recognized as a Human Right in itself. The knowledge of the
rights and freedoms, of oneself as much as of the others, is considered as a fundamental tool to
guarantee the respect of all human rights for each and every person.
On 10th December 2004, the General Assembly of the United Nations proclaimed the World
Programme for Human Rights Education (2005-ongoing) to advance the implementation of
human rights education programmes in all sectors. Building on the foundation laid during the
United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education (1995-2004), the new initiative reflects the
international communitys increasing recognition that human rights education produces far-
reaching results, by promoting respect for human dignity and equality and participation in
democratic decision making

Right to environment as third generation of human rights has developed as a right in the
latter part of the last century. A specific right to an environment of a particular quality (hereafter
right to environment) has not been clearly articulated in international human rights treaties.
Neither the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, nor the International Bill of Rights contain a
right to environment, notwithstanding that a number of rights in these instruments arguably rely,
for their fulfilment, on an environment of a certain quality. Aside from international human
rights law, perhaps the only other closely related area of international law to address
environmental protection is International Humanitarian Law (IHL). A set of rules designed to
protect civilians and limit the effects of armed conflict, IHL is predominantly found in the 1949
Geneva Conventions and 1977 Additional Protocols.
Protocol 1 Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 19491 contains a number of provisions that
deal with the protection of the civilian population and the environment from harm. Article 35.3
provides:

It is prohibited to employ methods or means of warfare which are intended, or may

be expected, to cause widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural
environment.

The position is reinforced in Article 55, which provides:

1. Care shall be taken in warfare to protect the natural environment against

widespread, long-term and severe damage. This protection includes a prohibition of
the use of methods or means of warfare which are intended or may be expected to
cause such damage to the natural environment and thereby to prejudice the health or
survival of the population.

2. Attacks against the natural environment by way of reprisals are prohibited.

In explicitly recognising that environmental degradation can have a harmful effect on the
physical or mental health of the people, the traveaux preparatoire to the Additional Protocol
indicates that the provision seeks to not only to protect the natural environment against the
immediate use of weapons or techniques deliberately directed against it, but also the civilian
population and long term natural environmental processes both within and beyond the zone of
conflict.2

In addition to Additional Protocol 1, the Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other
Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques (ENMOD) seeks to provide further
protection for the natural environment. Whereas the Protocol is aimed at protecting the natural
environment against damage which could be inflicted on it by any weapon, the goal of ENMOD
is to prevent the use of environmental modification techniques as a weapon of war. In addition,
the prohibition in the Protocol applies only to armed conflict, while the prohibition contained in
ENMOD applies to the use of these techniques for hostile purposes.

There are a number of fundamental differences between international human rights law
and IHL. The two bodies of law apply in different situations and do not share common core
documents. Nor does the latter seek to create individual rights but rather obligations on the State
in times of conflict. For these reasons commentators have suggested that there are significant

1 Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of
Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol 1), 8 June 1977. Entry into force 7 December 1979

2 Traveaux Preparatiore to Protocol I Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 1949. Para 1440 1443.
Available online at http://www.icrc/eng
difficulties in importing principles of humanitarian law directly into human rights law.3 Thus,
while IHL provisions regarding the environment reflect a growing concern about the human
impact of environmental degradation in times of war, it is unlikely that they could be used to
establish, in their own right, the existence of a human right to environment.

In the long evolution of the human race on this planet, a stage has been reached when,
through the rapid acceleration of science and technology, we have acquired the power to
transform our environment in countless ways and on an unprecedented scale. Humanitys
capacity to transform its surroundings, if used wisely and with respect to the ways of nature, can
bring to all communities the opportunity to enhance the quality of life. Wrongly or heedlessly
applied, or applied in iniquitous ways, the same power can do incalculable harm to human beings
and their environment. We see around us growing evidence of human-caused harm in many
regions of the earth:

3 Rene Provost, International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 2002 at 8.