The Global Coalition for the Recognition of the Human Right to a Clean, Healthy, and Sustainable Environment has been honored with the prestigious 2023 United Nations Human Rights Prize and it takes on added significance as it marks the first time, since its establishment in 1966, that the prize is granted to a global coalition.
Nominated by UN agencies and selected by the esteemed committee, the coalition joins the ranks of past laureates such as Malala Yousafzai, Martin Luther King, and Nelson Mandela.
Adding to this momentous occasion, Flaviano Bianchini, founder of SOURCE International, has been elected as the European representative. Alongside a representative from each continent, he proudly accepted the prestigious prize at the UN General Assembly on December 15th!
“The coalition was established in 2018, – says Flaviano Bianchini, the coalition’s European representative – with Source International as one of its founding members. In 2022 it achieved its main target, when the United Nations General Assembly and the Human Rights Council adopted the resolution to universally recognize the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. For this reason, the coalition was the recipient of the prestigious UN Human Rights Award, which is assigned every five years.”
“But the road ahead is still long. Although the human right to a healthy environment has been widely recognised, the same cannot be said about its application, as it still lacks a legally binding international instrument. So the road ahead is still long, but the award is a sign that we are moving in the right direction.”
