The Right to Favourable Environment

The destruction and pollution of the environment is faster, all the time faster than our strong efforts to repair the damages.

I live in a small town in the south of Sweden. It is situated on the coast of the Baltic Sea. The water in the Baltic Sea is not especially clean, and my municipality, the economy of it, was based on farming and fishing. But there are today a few professional fishermen, who can support themselves and their families by fishing. And one of the heaviest reasons for that is that reproduction of fish has decreased because of the water situation, pollution, and dead spots at the bottom of the sea.

The Declaration on Human Rights is dated 1948. The two conventions about human rights came in 1966, and at that time the consciousness about environmental prob­lems and disasters was generally low. We cannot neglect the fact that many accepted rights contain implied environmental aspects. Looking in the convention on economic, social, and cultural rights, you could imagine that the right to a satisfactory standard of living and health must include good environment as a human right. The right to good environment is closely connected to the economic, social, and cultural rights. This category of rights, as well as environment protection actions, often demands expensive actions from the state. The right to good environment also has similarities with some civil rights like the fundamental right to life, property, etc. These accepted common rights, together with ecological principles, could be taken as human rights.

In 1969 came the Secretary General's report, which laid down that now it really matters about the connections between a human being and the environment. It was the first time when this was printed with real letters in a text. And this is because a lot of threats suddenly became visible in the world. You can read it in the report too about the population explosion, the technology without environmental control, pollution of cultivated land, the lack of strategy in urban planning, diminishing of the countryside, and the exter­mination of the animal life and flora. The report explains very clearly in words that the future life on the Earth is threatened if this continues, the survival is threatened.

It was probably this report that made the United Nations arrange a conference in Stockholm in 1972. The conference resulted in declaration of the 26 basic rules, and the first article points out the moral responsibility for the environment we give the children of today, and the moral responsibility for the future generations. There was a discussion about the environment we give to our children. I believe that a child has the right to be born in good environment.

IV.Questions for discussion:

1. What has happened to the water in the Baltic Sea?

2. Why are so few professional fishermen in a small town in the south of Sweden today?

3. Do you agree that the right to good environment is closely connected to the economic, social, and cultural rights?

4. Is the right to good environment included into the Declaration on Human Rights?

5. When was it first mentioned about the connections between a human being and the environment?

6. Do you feel high moral responsibility for the environment in your native village, settlement, town, city?

7. Do you believe that every child has the right to be born in good environment?

PART 5.

Animals and Wild Life

I.Study the vocabulary to read and understand the text better:

affect – воздействовать, влиять

impact – (v.)оказывать воздействие, влиять; (n.)влияние, воздействие

take charge of – отвечать за что-либо, нести ответственность

compassion – сочувствие, жалость, сострадание

plough – (брит.) плуг; plow – (амер.) плуг, снегоочиститель

acreage – площадь земли в акрах; зд. собственный участок земли

livelihood – средства к существованию

raise – выращивать, разводить (растения, скот, птицу); (амер.) растить, воспитывать детей

vegans – строгие вегетарианцы

consumption – потребление

pheasant – фазан

quail – перепёлка, куропатка

tracker – охотник, выслеживающий диких зверей

tracker dog – служебная собака, ищейка

horseback riding – верховая езда; езда верхом на лошади

revolve around (about) – вращаться, вертеться вокруг чего-либо