resolution

Follow-up resolution to the declaration of Bizkaia on the right to the environment

At the expert seminar on the right to the environment held in Bilbao on 10-13 February 1999 under the auspices of UNESCO and the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights,

TAKING NOTE that a suitable follow-up is required to the Declaration of Bizkaia on the Right to the Environment adopted on 12 February 1999,

The organising bodies: Provincial Council of Bizkaia, Basque Institute of Public Administration, UNESCO Etxea - UNESCO Centre in the Basque Country and the Pedro Arrupe Human Rights Institute of the University of Deusto,

RECOMMEND that the following initiatives and measures be implemented with reference to the Declaration of Bizkaia on the Right to the Environment.

A. At the level of the spanish state
Town halls, general assemblies and provincial councils should adopt the Declaration of Bizkaia on the Right to the Environment.

The Basque Government and Parliament should adopt the Declaration of Bizkaia and propose that it be adopted also by the competent bodies of the other autonomous communities.

The authorities of the Basque Country should propose that the Declaration of Bizkaia be examined by the Spanish parliament and other institutions, with a view to its being enshrined in legislation and regulations.

B. At european level
The Declaration of Bizkaia should be sent to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe so that the human right to a healthy, ecologically balanced environment may be incorporated into the relevant instruments of law.

The Declaration of Bizkaia should be sent to all the institutions of the European Union with authority in environmental matters. In particular the European Parliament should examine whether the Declaration of Bizkaia can be transformed into a document of Community law.

C. At international level
The Declaration of Bizkaia on the Right to the Environment should be sent to the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly so that appropriate steps may be taken with a view to the adopting of the declaration, as well as to the Organization of American States and to the Organization of African Unity.

The Declaration should be submitted to the Director General of UNESCO and to the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights so that such processes as they may deem appropriate may be commenced for the recognition of the right to the environment as a human right.

The Declaration of Bizkaia should likewise be sent to other specialist bodies of the United Nations with a view to its application within the scope of their competence.

Drawn up in Bilbao, 13 February 1999


Declaration	Resolution	Key Action