Key Action

Key action taken to date

On June 2, 1998 the Executive of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia (Diputación Foral de Bizkaia) passed an Institutional Declaration that included a proposal addressed to the international community seeking recognition of the Right to the Environment as a new Human Right.

The content of the document was seconded, on June 30, 1998, by the General Assembly of Bizkaia, and soon after by the plenary sessions of most of the Town and City Councils in the province.

On February 10 - 13, 1999, an International Seminar of Experts was held in Bilbao to promote debate and generate international support for world recognition of this new right. The Seminar was held under the official sponsorship of UNESCO and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

On February 12, 1999, the Expert Seminar on the Right to the Environment finished the final draft and gave its official approval to the Declaration of Bizkaia on the Right to the Environment, in a session chaired by Uruguayan diplomat Prof. Héctor Gros Espiell.

On April 15, 1999 the Declaration of Bizkaia was adopted by the Bizkaia General Assembly.

That same day, it was submitted to the Subcommission of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was chaired by Javier Rupérez and attended by representatives of all the groups in the Congress of Deputies, or Lower House of the Spanish Parliament. The Subcommission issued a report on the Declaration of Bizkaia considering it as a contribution enjoying wide support. On the basis of this decision, the Spanish Lower House voted unanimously to support the Declaration of Bizkaia on July 1, 1999.

On April 29, 1999 the Bizkaia Councilwoman for the Environment personally presented the document to the Director General of UNESCO, Federico Mayor Zaragoza, who expressed his enthusiastic support for the Declaration and agreed to bring it before the Executive Council, and to begin the necessary processing of the initiative at the different levels of the organisation, which took place on May 25.

On May 7, 1999, through the good offices of the International Court of Environmental Arbitration and Settlement, with head offices in Mexico, the Declaration was presented to the Senate, the Congress, the academic community, the National Commission on Human Rights and to the Journalists' Club of Mexico.

On June 8, 1999, a book entitled Declaration of Bizkaia on the Right to the Environment was presented to the public. The volume includes the papers delivered at the Expert Seminar held during the month of February, the discussion that ensued and the official texts of the Declaration and of the Follow-up Resolution.

On June 18, 1999, the Basque Parliament unanimously approved a green paper submitted by the groups Eusko Abertzaleak-Nacionalistas Vascos and by Eusko Alkartasuna, proposing the adhesion of the Chamber to the Declaration of Bizkaia on the Right to the Environment.

On July 7, 1999, the Councilwoman for the Environment and Territorial Action, María Esther Solabarrieta, met with the Chair of the Basque Parliament, Juan María Atutxa, and officially handed over to the Parliament a copy of the book, whose prologue was written by diplomat, lawyer and UN advisor Héctor Gros Espiell, and which includes the talks delivered at the International Expert Seminar held in Bilbao in February 1999, the debates that took place, the final Declaration adopted and its follow-up Resolution. During the meeting, specific initiatives were agreed to promote and secure official support for the Declaration from the different regional legislative assemblies within the European Union.

On August 19, 1999, official presentation was made to the President of the Swiss Confederation, Ruth Dreifuss, of the Declaration of Bizkaia on the Right to the Environment, through the person of Jon Zabalo, a boy with Swiss nationality who lives in Bizkaia. The presentation included a personal letter from the Diputado General, or President of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia. President Dreifuss promised to have the Declaration sent to the person in charge of Environmental Affairs in her Government so that action could be taken accordingly.

On September 8, 1999, the Organizing Committee of the Parliament of Andalusia resolved unanimously that the Parliament should support the Declaration of Bizkaia.

On September 9, 1999 the Chair of the Basque Parliament, Juan María Atutxa, met with the Chair of the Parliament of Andalusia, Javier Torres Vela, in the Andalusian Parliament Building to discuss ways of securing from the different regional parliaments in Spain and the legislative assemblies of Europe belonging to CALRE declarations of support for the 'Declaration of Bizkaia on the Right to the Environment'. The initiative originated during a visit made by the Bizkaia Councilwoman for the Environment, María Esther Solabarrieta, to the Basque Parliament on July 7, 1999 to deliver to its Chair a copy of the book entitled Declaration of Bizkaia on the Right to the Environment.

The purpose of the meeting was to secure support for the text and to obtain new political and social backing for it from competent international authorities, so as to have the Right to the Environment included as a new article in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

During the meeting, Torres Vela and Atutxa decided on the specific mechanisms to be used to further this initiative in the regional parliaments of Spain and in the regional legislative bodies of Europe, as well as the most favourable calendar for seeking adhesions to the Declaration, which would be notified to different agencies and echelons of the UN, particularly the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and UNESCO.

The Chair of the Basque Parliament stated, following his meeting with Mr. Torres Vela, that the proposal made in the Declaration of Bizkaia constitutes 'a true "boon" for society the world over'.

Between the months of July and September 1999, the content of the Declaration of Bizkaia was widely publicised in institutional, political, legal, administrative, diplomatic, economic, corporate, trade union, religious, academic, media and social spheres and venues all over the world. A total of 10,218 copies of the document were sent to these agencies, as shown in the following breakdown:

On January 21, 2000, the Conference of Chairs of the Regional Parliaments of Spain, at a meeting held in Santiago de Compostela, voted its support of the Declaration of Bizkaia on the Right to the Environment, resolving to have the Declaration brought before their respective Parliaments for debate and vote on adhesion.

The 3rd Conference of Legislative Assemblies of the Regions of Europe, representing 50 different legislative bodies, will address the Declaration of Bizkaia at its meetings during the month of October 2000, to be held in Santiago de Compostela. The proposal will have the support of all the Parliaments of all the Autonomous Communities in Spain.

Currently, talks are being held with representatives of the Olympic Games to try to obtain their specific support for the Declaration, in view of the fact that the Games in the year 2000 will be known officially as the 'Green Games'.

February 12, 2000 will mark the first anniversary of approval of the Declaration of Bizkaia in Bilbao.

On 22 May, 2000, the Radio Stations COPE and Cadena 100 presented the "Award for the Best Institutional Idea 1999" to Bizkaia's Declaration of Human Rights to the Environment, accepted by Bizkaia's Government Member for the Environment and Territory Action, Maria Esther Solabarrieta, following words from UNESCO's former general director, Federico Mayor Zaragoza, acknowledging the initiative.

During the award ceremony, personal adherence to the Declaration was received from the following: Colombian doctor Manuel Elkin Patarroyo, winner of the Principe de Asturias award and discoverer of a vaccination against malaria; singer Luz Casal; music bands Café Quijano and Ketama; actor Tito Valverde; stockbreeder Victorino Martin; chefs Juan Mari Arzak, Pedro Subijana and Ferran Adria; television presenters Felix Linares and Antxon Urrosolo; clown Miliki; and Olmo, humorist comic strip writer, creator of the Don Celes comic strip.

On Saturday, 27 May, 2000, the Ercocamp group met in Bilbao. Ercocamp is a school student exchange organisation, financed by the European Union, with representatives from Finland, Austria, Ireland and the Basque Country. During the work sessions, Bizkaia's Declaration was discussed as a single topic and the group developed an in-depth analysis of the contents, and made it clear that this new human right should be acknowledged as soon as is possible.

On 1 June, 2000, Euskadi's Cycling Foundation and professional cycling team Euskaltel-Euskadi adhered to Bizkaia's Declaration during a formal ceremony held at the Pergola of Doña Casilda Park, in Bilbao. The adherence was undersigned by Miguel Madariaga, President of Euskadi's Cycling Foundation, Julián Gorospe, manager of Euskaltel-Euskadi team, Rubén Gorospe, secondary manager, José Nazabal, mechanic, and the following professional cyclists on behalf of the whole team: Bingen Fernández, Txema del Olmo Mikel Pradera, Gorka Gerrikagoitia, Gorka Arrizabalaga, Ramontxu Gonzalez-Arrieta, Unai Etxebarria, Mikel Artetxe, Aitor Silloniz, Josu Silloniz, Roberto Laiseka, and Ivan Mayo.

This is the first group of high-level sportsmen which has endorsed the Declaration. During the ceremony, María Esther Solabarrieta made the announcement that during the current year 2000, which is an Olympic year and a significant reference in the growing process of involving sports activities in the environment, efforts will be made to increase awareness for the contents of Bizkaia's Declaration throughout the world of sports.

On 5 June, 2000, Josu Bergara, Bizkaia's General Government Representative presented the new web page of Bizkaia's Declaration in Bilbao. The web page has its own domain (www.gurelurra.net) in addition to the existing access (www.bizkaia.net).

For the first time, the documents which constitute the basis of Bizkaia's proposal to the international community have been made available to the whole world through the Internet.

As information, the web site includes the text of the Declaration and of the Follow-up Resolution, and a detailed account of its evolution, which will be updated regularly, so that the information provided is always up to date.

The web allows any person, institution or company from around the world to adhere individually or collectively to Bizkaia's Declaration, and to receive automatically a corresponding certificate of commitment, issued on-line by Diputación Foral de Bizkaia (Bizkaia's Provincial Government).

Access to Bizkaia's Declaration web site is in over 100 servers in English and Spanish. Amongst them, the most important servers: Yahoo, Altavista, Lycos, Excite, Terra, Ya.com., Eresmas, canal 21, etc.

The Permanent Commission for Europe's Legislative Regional Assembly Conference, which met in Madrid on 9 June, 2000 in a preparatory session for the topics which will be the centre of the debate during the next General Assembly (to be held in Santiago de Compostela in October, 2000), unanimously agreed that Bizkaia's Declaration of Human Rights to the Environment should constitute a specific contribution from Europe's Legislative Regional Assembly Conference to the European Union's Human Rights Charter.

The meeting held by the Permanent Commission in Madrid was attended by representatives of legislative bodies from Germany, Austria, Belgium, Spain and Italy.

On 15 June, 2000, Bizkaia's Government Member for the Environment and Territory Action, María Esther Solabarrieta, met in Brussels with assistant General Manager of European Union's General Management 11 (responsible for environmental issues), Jean François Vestrynge, with the purpose of requesting support and co-operation from the high Community body for the inclusion of Bizkaia's Declaration for consideration and debate in the preparatory work currently being conducted on the European Union's Charter of Fundamental Rights. During the meeting, the following was agreed:

1. To transfer information on "Bizkaia's Declaration" directly to the President of the Commission and to the Commissioner for the Environment, Romano Prodi and Margot Wälstrom, notifying them of the importance of the incorporation of the Environment into the European Union's Charter of Fundamental Rights.

2. To try and incorporate the Declaration to the Protocol which will accompany the Charter.

Jean François Vestrynge expressed his total agreement with the philosophy of incorporating the environment as a basic right.

On the same date, María Esther Solabarrieta also met with senior members of the office of Commissioner Loyola de Palacio, and presided over a ceremony organised by the Delegation of the Basque Government in Brussels, which served to present Bizkaia's Declaration to numerous representatives of the European Union certified European regional offices, and to members of the European Parliament and senior civil servants of the Community administration.

On 22 June 2000, the Executive Commission of Euskadiko Udalen Elkartea-Association of Basque Municipalities (EUDEL) agreed to "adhere and join their support to Bizkaia's Declaration on the Human Right to the Environment".

On 24 August 2000, the athletes, managers and judges of the Volleyball competition members of the European Volleyball Confederation adhered to Bizkaia's Declaration during the opening ceremony of the European Beach Volleyball Championship 2000, held in Ereaga (Getxo). In their public commitment they expressed the following:

- "We believe that Human Rights are a reflection of the historical needs which in every moment are considered to safeguard the integrity of human beings.

- We believe that the Right to the Environment is inherent to every person's dignity, and that it is necessarily linked to the guarantee of all the other Human Rights.

- We defend the position that the Human Right to the Environment should be recognised by universal legal instruments.

- We propose that the International Community, in particular the United Nations and world wide and regional Organisations, as well as the authorities and members of the International Olympic Movement and the different national and international sports organisations, examine Bizkaia's Declaration on the Right to the Environment, adhere to it, and take the appropriate measures to have it effectively recognised".

On 26 August, the International Volleyball Federation and the World Beach Volleyball Council adhered to Bizkaia's declaration during the Official Olympic Draw for Beach Volleyball for Sydney 2000, held at Bilbao's Guggenheim Museum.

On 28 September 2000, during the first Jesus Guerra Memorial: "Sports and the Environment", two of the most important education centres in Bizkaia, Askartza-Claret and Urdaneta schools, with more than 4,000 student, as well as Club Deportivo Bidasoa (European Champion in 94-95), and Club Balonmano Barakaldo-UPV – Handball Club, formalised their adhesion to the Declaration.

On October 30th and 31st, 2000, the plenary meeting of the Conference of Legislative Assemblies of the Regions of Europe was held in Santiago de Compostela. On the first day, in the afternoon of the 30th, express support for Bizkaia's Declaration and the request to have it included in the European Union's Charter of Fundamental Rights, was unanimously approved. This request will be referred to the relevant bodies, the European Council and the European Commission, endorsed by all the Legislative Assemblies integrated in the Conference of Legislative Assemblies of the Regions of Europe.

The approved text, based on a paper presented and defended by Marcela Miró Pérez, President of Les Corts Valencianes, states, amongst other issues, that:

- "The environmental policies are particularly important from the European and regional point of view. That is why we value very positively Bizkaia's Declaration on the right to the environment, which was approved on February 12h, 1999, during an international seminary on the environment held in Bilbao under the auspices of the UNESCO and of the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights".

- "This Declaration, which sums up the claim of all citizens in favour of a healthy, balanced environment, received the support of the Conference of Chairs of the Regional Parliaments of Spain, which met in Santiago de Compostela on January 21st of this year, thus showing adhesion to it, and undertaking the task of forwarding it to their respective Parliaments".

- "Now, with the meeting of the Conference of Legislative Assemblies of the Regions of Europe, also being held in Santiago de Compostela, it seems the right time to formalise the adhesion to Bizkaia's Declaration on the right to the environment, thereby enabling opinions to be issued by the Legislative Assemblies of the Regions of Europe on an issue to which they are particularly sensitive, as they are the legislative bodies who are closest to the people".

Some of the conclusions of the Agreement adopted by the Conference of Legislative Assemblies of the Regions of Europe are:

- The Conference of Legislative Assemblies of the Regions of Europe expresses its support for the preparation and approval of a European Union's Charter of Fundamental Rights, which includes the fundamental rights and freedoms of European citizens, and the ongoing jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Communities, which has recognised these rights and freedoms as an integral part of the general principles of the right, and as a priority source for the creation, application and interpretation of the Community's primary right.

- The Conference of Legislative Assemblies of the Regions of Europe expresses its support and adhesion to Bizkaia's declaration on the right to the environment, approved in Bilbao on February 12th, 1999, as it understands that there is a fundamental right to enjoy a healthy, ecologically balanced environment.

- The Conference of Legislative Assemblies of the Regions of Europe recommends the incorporation of the European Union's Charter of Fundamental Rights into the new Treaty, or its consolidation as an independent document, in order to guarantee its protection within the legal regulations of the European Community.

On December 21st, 2000, the Bizkaia Sports Press Association adhered to Bizkaia's Declaration. The adherence ceremony was chaired by Josu Bergara, Primary Member of Bizkaia's Provincial Government, who said that "the sports community is beginning to express itself as one of the communities with greater awareness of the environment, maybe because it perceives, like only a few others do, the close connection between the environment and sport". At the event, the APDB represented its 145 members.

On February 5th, 2001, the book "The human right to a suitable environment", by Mercedes Franco del Pozo, was presented at Bizkaia's Provincial Government. The ceremony was attended by Eduardo Ruiz Vieytez, manager of the Pedro Arrupe Human Rights Institute. The publication is part of the Deusto Notebooks (Cuadernos Deusto) collection, and poses a series of thoughts and legal requirements regarding recognition of the environment as a new human right in the framework of the so-called Third Generation rights or Solidarity Rights. It is one of the first specialised works on this subject, and it has been promoted by the University of Deusto.· On 12th January, 2001 the Second Anniversary of the Declaration was celebrated in an act presided by the General Deputy of Bizkaia, Mr Josu Bergara. Athletic Club of Bilbao and the companies Bahia de Bizkaia and Azpiegitura formalised their adherence in such act. By that date the page www.gurelurra.net had gathered 13,668 adherents.

On 14th February, 2001 the Declaration of Bizkaia was incorporated into the Guiding Plan of Spanish Co-operation 2001-2004, where the general points and basic guidelines of the above mentioned policy are provided. It indicates the objectives and geographical and sectorial priorities as well as the indicative budgetary resources that will direct the performance of the international co-operation of the Spanish State during the period in which the Plan is in force. The Congress Commission on International Co-operation for Development unanimously passed this incorporation.

On 27th February, 2001 the President of the Basque Government Mr Juan Jose Ibarretxe formalised his personal adherence to the Declaration of Bizkaia in the opening act of the Proma 2001 Fair.

On 5th April, 2001 the Environment and Territorial Action Deputy of Bizkaia, Ms Maria Esther Solabarrieta, met the President of La Habana Province and member of the Cuban State Council, Mr Conrado Martinez Corona and the Science, Technology and Environment Vice- Minister, Mr Fabio Fajardo, in the capital of Cuba.

During those meetings they studied the possibility that the declaration of Bizkaia formed part of the acts and symposiums to be held in La Habana on the first days of June, in commemoration of the World Environment Day. The capital of Cuba has been chosen by the United Nations as the official venue in the planet for the celebration of the World Environment Day, whose theme in 2001 is "Connect with Life".

Likewise, the Declaration of Bizkaia will be taken to the Provincial Assembly of La Habana for this institution to make an official declaration in support of the initiative.

On 5th June, 2001 the Miniguide about the Right to the Environment was presented. It is a publication specially aimed at boys and girls between 10 and 14 years of age that intends to encourage their capacity to understand the principles and postulates that make up the Declaration of Bizkaia. It is a pedagogical adaptation of the contents thereof.

On 12th June,2001 Sir John Harman, director of the Environment Agency of England, the president of the British Institute for the Management of Waste (IMW), Ms Cathy O' Brien and its director, Mr Mike Philpott, formalised their support and adherence to the Declaration of Bizkaia on the Right to the Environment.

On 19th June, 2001 the members of the national teams that played the European Beach Football Cup, a competition prior to the Golden League, in the Italian city of Cagliari, adhered to the Declaration of Bizkaia.

On 20th June, 2001, the President of the Regional Council of Cerdeña, Mr Efisio Serrenti, accepted the invitation of the Environment and Territorial Action Deputy, Ms Maria Esther Solabarrieta, to act as ambassador of the Declaration of Bizkaia in Italy.

At 1,15 pm on April 14, 2002, Basque sportsmen Guillermo Bañales and Josu Feijoo, reached the Geographical North Pole, laying down on the site an aluminium container with a copy of the Declaration of Bizkaia, together with a message from the Provincial Councillor for the Environment and Territorial Action, María Esther Solabarrieta, that read as follows:

At 6:15 hours am Polar time on January 3, 2003, Basque sportsmen Guillermo Bañales, Ángel Navas and Josu Feijoo, reached the Geographical South Pole, laying down on the site an aluminium container with a copy of the Declaration of Bizkaia. They had covered a journey of 1,200 kilometres across the Antarctic continent. Bañales and Feijoo are the first two humans to have reached the two Poles of the earth within less than a year.

The President of the Regional Government of Bizkaia, Josu Bergara, addressed a message live to the sportsmen. Below is an extract from this message:

“As the President of the Regional Government, and representative of all the people of Bizkaia, I wish to thank you for your generous, formidable effort; our gratitude for having led the steps of Bizkaia along that gigantic tableland covered in ice and cold, to the southernmost point on earth; our gratitude for filling our hearts with pride and happiness; our gratitude because you have reflected on the Antarctic tableland the spirit that has historically characterised the advancement of this people: A spirit that has built up on serene effort, on perseverance, and on resolution to achieve objectives set”.

On January 9, 2003, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe made an appeal to “political players of the member States of the European Union to recognise the binding nature on an international level of the right to the environment, since existing fundamental rights are insufficient on the subject of the environment”. In this respect, the Parliamentary Assembly made the relevant Recommendation and proposed the recognition of the Human Right to the Environment through a protocol additional to the European Charter on Human Rights..

The Declaration of Bizkaia was one of the international documents of reference to formulate such proposal.

On February 2, 2003, the explorer, oceanographer and cinema producer Jean Michel Cousteau formalised his adhesion to the Declaration of Bizkaia on the Human right to the Environment, during a solemn event chaired by the President of the Regional Government of Bizkaia, Josu Bergara.

Mr Cousteau publicly expressed his complete support for the initiative to have the environment recognised as a new human right, and he formalised his commitment to spread and disseminate his proposal worldwide.

Declaration Resolution Key Action

Declaration of Bizkaia on the right to the environment
	Key Action