Furthermore, it should be underlined that, on July 28, 2010, the United Nations General Assembly issued Resolution 64/292 entitled “The human right to water and sanitation, which recognizes the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights.” Likewise, article 9 in Chapter III of the Social Charter of the Americas asserts that “[t]he […] States recognize that water is fundamental for life and central to socioeconomic development and environmental sustainability” and that they “undertake to continue working to ensure access to safe drinking water and sanitation services for present and future generations.” Also, in 2007 and 2012, the OAS General Assembly adopted resolutions 2349/07 and 2760/12, entitled, respectively, “Water, health and human rights” and “The human right to safe drinking water and sanitation.” In its articles 1 and 4, the former resolves “to recognize that water is essential for life and health” and “indispensable for a life with human dignity,” as well as “to recognize and respect, in accordance with national law, the ancestral use of water by urban, rural and indigenous communities in the framework of their habits and customs on water use.” The second, in its first article resolves “to invite” States “to continue working to ensure access to safe drinking water and sanitation services for present and future generations.” The right is also established in Article 12 of the Inter-American Convention on Protecting the Human Rights of Older Persons.

When explaining how the right to water is related to other rights, the CESCR noted “the importance of ensuring sustainable access to water resources for agriculture to realize the right to adequate food.” It added that “States should ensure that there is adequate access to water for subsistence farming and for securing the livelihoods of indigenous peoples........

QUESTIONS:-

1. What is the difference between the substantive and procedural environmental right?

2. Is environmental impact assessment a procedural environmental right?

3. Are all environmental human rights justiciable?