Practical information
- Composition of the study group
- Administrator / Assistant in charge: Caroline VERHELST / Luca PITRONE
- Contact
Background
The conflict in Ukraine is inflicting unprecedented challenges to the environment, adversely affecting human health and well-being. The environmental damage caused by the war includes ecosystem degradation, air and water pollution, and contamination of arable and pasture fields, directly threatening future agricultural production and exposing the fragility of global food security. In its resolution, the EESC stresses the EU must help to protect and restore environmental damages caused by the war, as they will inevitably have long lasting consequences.
The environmental and social dimension of the war in Ukraine is a stark reminder of the need to improve and secure the right to a healthy environment that permits the enjoyment of fundamental human rights in the EU and beyond.
While immediate EU solutions should focus on identifying, reducing and eliminating environmental risks through various programmes in coordination with national, regional and local mechanisms, and in cooperation with the private sectors and civil society actors, environmental protection in the context of human rights must be improved and accelerated.
Drawing on the outcomes of the NAT/824 Information Report on Environmental protection as a prerequisite for the respect for fundamental rights, the EESC will further examine EU legislation and supporting policy papers and propose recommendations to advancing the EU's approach to ensure a healthy environment and thus improve citizen's fundamental rights.