Human Rights Defender Anahit Manasyan participated as a speaker in the high-level dialogue entitled “Human Rights-Based Action for Biodiversity: Opportunities and Challenges,” held at the Armenian Pavilion in the Blue Zone as part of the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17).
Organized jointly by the Armenian Presidency and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the discussion explored the relationship between human rights and biodiversity conservation, as well as the opportunities and challenges associated with integrating human rights-based approaches into environmental policies.
In her remarks, Anahit Manasyan emphasized that, despite the progress achieved, Armenia continues to face a number of challenges in ensuring the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.
These concern both public participation and access to justice in environmental matters, as well as specific environmental problems. In particular, the Defender addressed demolition work carried out in violation of established standards, which significantly contributes to air pollution, noise exceeding permissible limits, human rights concerns in the mining sector, and other issues.
Anahit Manasyan paid particular attention to the need for mechanisms to protect against strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs), emphasizing that Armenia must adopt anti-SLAPP legislation and develop appropriate mechanisms for this purpose.
The Defender also shared examples of her efforts to raise this issue in domestic policymaking and implementation processes, as well as at various international forums.
“To ensure effective human rights protection, people’s needs, rights and legitimate interests must be taken into account in decision-making. The development and implementation of environmental policies must also ensure public participation, access to information and the availability of effective remedies,” Anahit Manasyan stated.
The Defender noted that ensuring public participation in environmental matters requires not only access to information, but also opportunities for people’s views and proposals to be heard and duly considered in decision-making. Various challenges persist in this regard. The involvement of women, young people and local communities is also essential to public participation.
The Human Rights Defender also addressed the low level of public awareness of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, presenting the extensive work launched by the Defender’s Office in this area and the activities already carried out.
Other participants in the high-level dialogue included Robert Abisoghomonyan, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of the Republic of Armenia; Juan Carlos Navarro, Minister of Environment of Panama; Astrid Puentes Riaño, UN Special Rapporteur on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment; and Sefa Tauli, Policy Co-Coordinator of the Global Youth Biodiversity Network.
The Human Rights Defender emphasizes the importance of consistently integrating human rights principles into environmental policies and ensuring conditions in which everyone’s rights and interests are duly taken into account when making and implementing decisions aimed at biodiversity conservation.
