The human right to a healthy environment in international law

Abstract

This research explores the existence of a new rule of customary international law, mainly the human right to a healthy environment in international law. The thesis goes into the basic elements of a human right and compares them with the main elements of the human right under consideration. Then the study analyses the actual meaning of the human right to a healthy environment, taking into consideration also related fields in international law. The establishment of the human right as a norm of customary international law necessitates a study of the recognition of the right in international and national legislation, including also Maltese law. The study tries to prove that the human right to a healthy environment is established as a norm of customary international law and makes proposals so that it is better respected and enforced worldwide.