Mannin Branch of the Celtic League:
As a UN NGO accredited by the UN Economic and Social Committee Celtic League tries to monitor all the work of the various UN agencies in so far as they impact on the Celtic countries or in terms of broader right, disability, health, gender or racial discrimination. This year the Celtic League AGM (held on the Isle of Man in July) considered our UN input and it was suggested we should maximize this ahead of our next ‘roster’ report.
One of the less well known agencies of the UN is the ‘Office of the Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes’.
Established via a temporary mandate two decades ago about six years ago the remit of the Rapporteur was considerably extended.
The right to a toxic free environment is a right under International law and its not only developing but also developed governments that should be aware of this.
Detail of the remit of the Special Rapporteur’s role plus contacts can be found at this link:
http://www.ohchr.org/…/ToxicW…/Pages/SRToxicWastesIndex.aspx
Image: Hazardous silt containing toxic metallic pollutants which was spilled on a haul route that passed a school. Pollution is not just a third world problem!
BERNARD MOFFATT
pp Celtic League
29/08/17