“We need fierce hope and fierce love”: Earth Law Center Interviews Astrid Puentes Riaño, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment

The following interview with Astrid Puentes Riaño (APR), the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, was conducted by Earth Law Center intern Shuruq Josting (SJ) of Humboldt University, Berlin on February 26, 2025. The transcript has been condensed and edited for clarity, while the audio file is in full. 

SJ: Thank you so much for taking the time for this interview. You began your tenure not so long ago as the Special Rapporteur. Could you share a bit with us about the history of this office and how your early months perhaps shifted your perspective on it?

APR: Sure, Shuruq, thank you very much. Today my role is called UN Special Rapporteur on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. The Rapporteurship is a special procedure, one of many mandates created by the Human Rights Council in Geneva. This mandate was created in 2012, over 10 years ago, with the idea to analyze the link between human rights and the environment and help states understand it. At first it was an expert role, but after six years it was changed into a Special Rapporteur. Early last year the name was also changed to mirror the resolution recognizing the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment [UN Resolution 76/300]. 

I started on May 1, 2024, so it has not even been a year for me, and it has been really interesting and a big challenge, a process I’ve been enjoying a lot. As a mandate holder, I have the possibility to receive information and request intervention from all over the world. 

We are living in a triple planetary crisis with climate change, biodiversity loss, and toxic pollution. That means, of course, that there are so many people, communities, and Indigenous Peoples who need to have environmental protection and whose human rights are being threatened and impacted by this crisis. I receive a lot of requests, and I also have had the opportunity to speak with government and high level officials and try to advance and improve the protection of the right to a healthy environment, which has been really interesting.

SJ: How would those who live in communities that have experienced environmental harms that result in human rights violations engage with your office? How would they approach you?

APR: Any community or person can go to my website and submit a claim or a request for intervention, or it can be also done by email. That is the same for me as a special rapporteur and for all other Special Procedures at the UN. 

There are a few possibilities for Special Procedures to intervene: If there is an urgent or emergency situation impacting human rights, we can send letters of allegation to states, and also businesses, in which we include the allegation and request information, and these states or businesses have 60 days to reply to these letters. 

The first 60 days are confidential, and after that term the letters are uploaded to the website of the Office of the High Commissioner. If states and businesses reply to the letter, then those answers are also uploaded to the website. For states and businesses, these letters can help to bring attention to the situation, and once they are public, the letters also help communities and people that are defending their rights to incorporate and use international human rights in their process, and governments as well. 

Using international law obligations for this work and for the defense of the environment and human rights is a big opportunity, and it has systematically helped in a lot of situations. I've seen not only Indigenous Peoples and communities but also governments using international law to strengthen their arguments to be able to advance the control, monitoring, and protection of the environment.

SR Puentes at the UN General Assembly, October 2024

One of the main objectives that I have as a rapporteur is to be accessible. And I laugh about that, because we're like “the Special Procedures!” And we're “Madame Rapporteur.” But in the end, of course, we're human beings, and these Special Procedures need to be on the ground, connected with the people that need our intervention. Of course, this includes states, from whom we receive our mandate. And one of the key ways in which I can help states is to highlight specific, urgent cases where there might be a threat to the human right to a healthy environment, and help them attend to the situation.

SJ: How do you go about expanding the number of states that you reach? Are there regions that you think need to or should be given more attention in the future to implement the right to a healthy environment on the ground, or are there certain regions already that you're focusing on?

APR: That is definitely one of the challenges of the rapporteurship, because there are 183 states, and it's only one of me. So, I am focusing on the countries where the human right to a healthy environment has been recognized to ensure that it is actually implemented. While I wish I could do so in all of the 164 states that have recognized the right, I have to focus on particular issues. 

The link between the ocean and human rights, and clean air, are two main issues that I would like to focus on in terms of the substantive elements of the right to a healthy environment. I just finished a report on the link between the ocean and human rights that I presented in Geneva and on March 14, [2025] at the Human Rights Council. I also will be preparing a report on clean air. Further, I will be working on clarification of the obligations of the states related to human rights and the human right to a healthy environment. I am preparing a report on standards for environmental impact assessments and strategic impact assessments. 

SJ: That sounds very interesting. If I remember correctly, Earth Law Center (ELC) contributed a brief on the topic of the ocean and human rights.

APR: Exactly, yes, the ELC's contribution on the report on the ocean and human rights was very important. And this is the kind of very interesting work that I can do in working closely with states, entities, and human rights organizations through inputs to the reports, events, and participation in international conferences like the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity.

In addition to these issues, I also have certain regions that I would like to focus on. For example, Europe hasn't yet recognized the right to a healthy environment, but there have been conversations and work regarding that right for years. I am closely following up on and helping the Council of Europe understand why recognizing the right to a healthy environment can help Europe to advance, to clarify the legal situation better and in a lot of ways to fill the gaps. There are already over 300 cases at the European Court on Human Rights that are related to the environment, and the fact that Europe hasn't recognized the right means that it’s difficult even for the court to solve some of these cases. In a lot of ways, the right to a healthy environment could help in that process. 

I am additionally following up on the process in the ASEAN region, which is also discussing a declaration on human rights and environment. 

Currently, my focus is on regions where special procedures and others haven't gone that much. So I'm looking forward to actually conducting a country visit to Southeast Asia. 

I would also like to work further on Africa. Of course, it's a huge continent of over 50 countries, but I would also like to do a country visit or two to Africa and incorporate not only the challenges but also the advances that some regions have made that we don't necessarily use. For example, Africa was the first region to recognize the right to a healthy environment. African human rights entities have already made important decisions protecting this right. My intention and priority is to have work that is diverse, that is intersectional, and that incorporates voices from the Global South that are not necessarily being incorporated yet. 

So, prioritizing is key, as is coordinating work with other mandate holders. We have done statements and communications with others, such as the letters of allegation I mentioned before. We can also do urgent letters, statements, and press releases related to legal processes that can impact human rights situations. 

Other mandate holders I have worked with include the Special Rapporteur on climate change, Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights, the working group on business and human rights, and the Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders. A lot of people who are defending the environment and climate are under attack, or are facing criminalization and stigmatization, so that is something that I'm also prioritizing and working on.

SJ: Speaking of your work with other rapporteurs: in March 2024, your counterpart, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967 – the very official title – Francesca Albanese, found that there are “reasonable grounds” to believe that Israel is committing a genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. By July 2024, research by the Lancet estimated the death toll to have reached 186,000. This ongoing destruction harms not only the current and future generations of humans in Gaza but many other species as well, as well as the environment at large, both in the directly targeted zones as well as surrounding zones. 

You signed a statement with several of your counterparts in June 2024 stating that “States and companies must end arms transfers to Israel immediately or risk responsibility for human rights violations,” and I wanted to ask you: How can the right to healthy environment be used, either in active war zones to protect civilians and the environment, or following warfare, as we have now in Gaza since the ceasefire agreement? How can it be used to prosecute state perpetrators or those complicit in the large scale destruction of the environment and of human lives?

APR: Thank you. Yes, that's one of the topics that I'm prioritizing – not only the situation in Gaza, but I also want to focus more generally on the impact of war, conflict, and even illegal activities on the environment. And that is a topic that I would like to prepare a specific report on, besides, of course, including this problem in the reports that I already present. 

In Gaza and Palestine, but in other conflicts as well, including in Ukraine – wherever there is war and conflict – there are impacts on the right to a healthy environment. I really want to highlight that, because it's not only about Gaza or Palestine, this issue is everywhere. When there is war, conflict, or illegal activities, there is an impact on the right to a healthy environment. Unfortunately, we saw and are still seeing the impacts in Gaza and Palestine, for example the impacts on ecosystems because of bombing. It has an impact on the land and on clean air. 

In Gaza, there is evidence of the use of white phosphorus, which is highly toxic for humans and nature as well. 

We need to make sure that the right to a healthy environment is actually used when people assess the violations of human rights caused through war and conflict. Unfortunately, during war, when these massive attacks, threats, and violations of human rights happen, nature and the environment are forgotten, as if invisible, but the damage is all too real. When we talk about the right to a healthy environment, we talk about clean air, safe climate, healthy and sustainable ecosystems and biodiversity, healthy water and clean water. We talk about non-toxic environments, and we also talk about healthy and sustainable food. All of these many elements are being impacted in Gaza and Palestine, as well as in Ukraine and other places where there are conflicts. 

That is why I have joined several communications; one, for example, regarding the destruction of Olive crops. Such destruction impacts not only the right to food in Palestine but also the ecosystem in which these crops grow. In Gaza, there's a lot of water contamination as well. I could go on and on regarding the impacts. 

The climate impacts of war are also something that we need to address. A study published in 2022 says that military emissions account for about 5.5% of all global greenhouse gas emissions, which is huge. All states need to include the impacts of military emissions in their climate emissions policies and work to reduce such emissions. 

As we know, there is litigation because of the conflict in Gaza. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague already, in a decision published in July, concluded that the way in which Israel is exploiting natural resources, and Palestinians’ lack of access to natural resources, specifically clean water and access to food, is contrary to international law. Why? Because this destruction, and limiting peoples’ access to natural resources such as water and food, is prohibited under international law. 

So, what else can we do? We need to continue denouncing this and call states – of course, Israel, and the ones that are directly involved, but also other states and the UN – to remember what the International Court of Justice (ICJ), has said so that they implement those decisions. The ICJ already concluded that the way in which natural resources are being used and extracted in Palestine and Gaza is contrary to international law, and thus Israel has to stop this, but so do states that are aiding these actions against international law. 

In coordination with the Special Rapporteur on the OPT, Francesca Albanese, and a lot of other rapporteurs, I am highlighting this issue and calling on states to respect the rule of law and respect international law in all war zones. 

I am currently reviewing a policy that the prosecutor of the ICJ is analyzing to see how to incorporate, investigate, and prosecute crimes relating to the environment. They're called environmental cases, and the ICJ prosecutor has a draft of a policy, which is now public after having been worked on over the last two years. As a reviewer, I am advising the prosecutor how to better incorporate the right to a healthy environment so that they can prosecute cases related to the environment. 

Another arena in which the environment is often forgotten, unfortunately, is that of investment and development. What we're seeing today is that economic modus, war, and the way in which humanity relates to the environment and the earth is costing the earth. We're burning the planet. 

I am working with a lot of other people to identify and address not only conflicts but also investment and development as drivers of those conflicts. And of course, this touches on fossil fuels. 

I'm originally from Colombia, a country that has for decades suffered an internal conflict zone, and all of those conflicts are also linked to natural resources, such as the extraction of oil, gas, and coal in Northern Colombia. Mining, more specifically gold mining, also plays a big role in conflicts around the world, such as the conflict between Uganda and the Republic of Congo. The extraction of natural resources to aid wars is prohibited under international law. 

Part of my work as Special Rapporteur has been and will be to help states understand that we need a different economic model and that we need to implement the right to a healthy environment – not because it's a right and an obligation on paper but because it's a key instrument for solving the triple planetary crisis that we are in. The right to a healthy environment is essential to advance the systemic transformations that we need. So, we need to advance the just transition from fossil fuels and be able to identify and advance renewable energies, improve transportation, make food systems sustainable – we need all of these changes, and at their center lays human rights, including the human right to a healthy environment.

SJ: I find it quite interesting to rethink mining and fossil fuels as drivers of conflict. Recently, I saw an article (one of several on this topic) about how drastically the life expectancy in Gaza has sunk during the current conflict, to now hovering around 40 years of age. Only a couple days later, I came across another article about specific parts of the Niger Delta that suffered from fossil fuel extraction and the consequences of conflict. Local life expectancy in those regions of the Delta is not that much higher than in a warzone, currently around 41 years of age. This showed me that many different forms of conflict can impact life so heavily.

There’s a book by Shourideh Molavi from Forensic Architecture, published last year, that I reviewed. One of the things that I realized while reading her book is how much more visible conflict can seem by just looking at the impacts on the environment. The investigations led by her are in large part about all the subtle ways that the environment of Gaza was impacted through spraying toxins across the fields, and most of this research was prior to the current conflict. Even though things seemed at a more peaceful state, there was still a daily type of aggression by prohibiting olive trees near the border, for example, so the Israeli Army would have clearer vision into the Gaza strip. 

APR: It's so important to talk about the impacts of the war and the impact of the conflict in Ukraine or occupation in Gaza, and the direct impacts for Palestinians. In part because people sometimes disconnect and say, “Well, I'm not in Gaza, I'm not Palestinian. It's not my problem.” 

War and destruction impact everyone. One of the things that we're seeing with climate change, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), is that every single percentage of emission, all the emissions, impact the entire world. It’s not as if we have a box for the emissions in Gaza and Palestine so that they will only impact people there. 

So, it is definitely about the human rights of Palestinians and the importance of protecting international law and the rule of law where the conflicts are happening. But think of, for example, the impact on the ocean. Emissions from wars and conflicts impact the entirety of the ocean too. 

The increase of emissions, not only because of bombing locally, but also because of the increased use of fossil fuels for the wars, is worsening climate change in the world. And so we need to understand that it's not about something that is happening between the borders, because the environment does not have borders. 

That is why under international law these kinds of actions are crimes against humanity. That is why this is being treated in a litigation at the ICJ: it transcends the problem between two parties. It is already impacting and threatening to further impact all of humanity. People should realize that a conflict involving one of us is a conflict involving all of us. Because the environment is all connected. 

In the process of writing the report that I just published and that I recently presented in Geneva, I learned that we should not be talking about the oceans in plural, but one ocean in singular, because the ocean is a connected biome. I included a really striking map as an annex for the report. It is a projection that a scientist did in the 1970s, and in order for people to understand that, they put the ocean in the middle and the continents around it. 

Not only the ocean but also the air and atmosphere connect us. To give an example of how these issues transcend borders, let’s look at some of the impacts happening in Palestine, for example with the water shortage, which is very worrisome. Even before the escalation of the conflict on October 7, 2023, Palestinians in Gaza were receiving an average of 82.7 liters of water. And now it's actually under 10. This is clearly a violation, not only of the right to water and the right to healthy environment, but also impacting the region. There will be an impact of the conflict on other states through this contamination and water shortages. 

Of course, when we're talking about the right to a healthy environment, including polluted air, it links to what you were saying, Shuruq, about life expectancy. If the air is polluted, then even if the conflict ends, we need measures to recover clean air, to restore ecosystems, because, if not, all of that toxicity is going to be continuing, impacting the people that stay there. 

SJ: The state of the world right now is truly dire in a lot of places, so to end this conversation on a more visionary note: How do we – not just as a Special Rapporteur, but also as environmental defenders, as activists – how do we build bridges into those communities that have experienced severe human rights violations and environmental destruction, and reach them on environmental topics, when the protection of human rights hasn't yet been ensured?

APR: I completely agree with you, Shuruq. We need fierce hope and fierce love. I mean, if anything, what we have seen is shameful, that this structure that was created after the Second World War and as a consequence of the horrors of the war is now under question by some governments. This includes the UN and us as Special Rapporteurs.

That means that we have a huge opportunity as humanity to connect and build solidarity. I am completely convinced that today the right to a healthy environment is a reminder that we are connected with nature, and that humanity needs to respect nature and be in balance with the earth we live on. The right to a healthy environment was not included in the UN Declaration 75 years ago. But 27 years ago, it was taken for granted. 

In a lot of ways, the unprecedented recognition of the right to a healthy environment by the UN completes the UN declaration. There's a lot of solidarity and joint work between communities to learn how to do things right, and everything that happens somewhere has an impact on all of us, because we are connected. 

I think that as horrible as the situation seems today, we have a huge opportunity to learn from the lessons of the past, including in the Middle East, including in Gaza and Palestine, and solve those problems. We knew that they were there decades ago and were kind of swept under the rug, and today everything is just exploding. 

The opportunity we have is to actually protect human rights, protect self determination, and advance with respect between different states and solidarity between communities. People being engaged is absolutely key. I don't know if it has happened to you, Shuruq, but more often than I can recall, people say, “Well, it's great that you're doing what you're doing,” whether it’s because I’m a Special Rapporteur or because I’m an environmental lawyer. What I always say is that we all have to work for the right to a healthy environment and all human rights. 

We can't expect the UN to solve everything because it can't. Everyone has to get involved in protecting the environment and human rights, because when we don't do it, what happens is what we are seeing today. So, we need everyone to be involved, not to disconnect. There are so many things that need to be done, and everyone has a role in creating positive change. We see that with voting. Every single vote counts, just as every single emission counts when it comes to the climate. 

We need people to be involved as communities in solidarity, to advance accountability of states, to advance accountability of companies and businesses, and to make sure that international law, including the structure of international law that we have, is respected. As Special Rapporteur, but also as a mom, I really believe that all of the solidarity and involvement that we can have is very important. 

Unfortunately, with climate change and with this conflict, people disconnect because it's too much to handle. I can see why, because, yes, it's painful, but that is exactly why we need to get involved. The people that are suffering in the world because of the conflicts, and also because of contamination, climate change, or biodiversity loss, deserve to have solutions. This cannot be done in isolation. We have to collaborate and do it together.

We are the generation that has to deal with climate change, but also with these conflicts, because everything is connected. One of the challenges that I see is that the world is so compartmentalized, even human rights. It's as if human rights were inside one box, the environment in another box, the economy in another box, and trade in yet another box. But the world is connected. Learning from the lessons of the past, we need to realize that human rights and the right to a healthy environment are not about being politically correct or solely about individual choices like not using plastic straws, but about coherency and consistency, which we have lost focus of over the last 70 or 80 years. 

Human rights is not about political parties nor is it a partisan issue, but rather about humanity and how to control power and bring balance. There are huge lessons that we can learn from nature and the environment. In nature herself, there's balance, there's no bad and good, just species existing.

We need to embrace, and to stubbornly and fiercely identify with, not only hope but peaceful actions. We need to learn from victims, from conflicts, from Palestinians, from women in coastal areas, because they're not only victims, they are immensely strong. There are so many lessons we can learn from a lot of the people that are in more marginalized situations, because there are a lot of solutions to be found in their experiences, and that is something that I am identifying and learning from. I bring a lot of these solutions to states, since sometimes solutions from the ground are not heard but are more efficient, more participatory, and more effective in the end. 

SJ: Thinking about these relationships within and between communities, we need to remember that in nature, there are innumerable inter-species relationships, and a lot of the time they're more symbiotic than exploitative. Perhaps that is an outlook we need to have towards life and communities – an outlook based on interaction and exchange.

APR: One thing we should definitely learn from nature, and incorporate in societies, is to end colonization and exploitation of another. What we see today is the exploitation of people and states, of one another and nature. We have to end that, including fossil fuels. We, humanity as a whole, have to be able to have a relationship with nature that is in balance. We are clearly seeing that our current approach is not benefiting humanity – for instance, it is 1% of the population that is responsible for about a fourth of the emissions and also has the majority of the wealth. 

But even that minority that is responsible for the majority of destruction and emissions today is impacted by the situation, being so disconnected from it. Of course, marginalized people and communities are suffering more from the triple parentary crisis and these conflicts, but it's having an impact on everyone. We have the opportunity to identify solutions and actually having accountability and controls such that we can have a different and better relationship with the planet and with each other, as utopic as that sounds.

SJ: Thank you so much for taking the time to answer these questions, and I'm very excited for your next years as a special rapporteur and to see your work. I think it's good for us to think of utopias, because far too often we focus on the dystopias, and I am glad that we included these visions in this conversation. 

APR: Thank you, Shuruq. Me too. I know that it's challenging, but I also know that there's a lot of things to be done, and we need all of us. 

Astrid Puentes Riaño has a Masters degree (LL.M.) in Comparative Law from the University of Florida and in Environmental Law from the University of the Basque Country, and a law degree from the Universidad de Los Andes in Bogota.

Ms. Puentes teaches at the Berta Cáceres Environmental Justice Clinic at the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City, Mexico, and has more than twenty years of experience on environmental law, human rights and climate change, and the intersection of these, with a perspective of climate justice, diversity, equity and inclusion. She has worked for and with communities, environmental defenders and Indigenous Peoples in Latin America, contributing to the protection of their rights and territory, including in Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Peru.

Ms. Puentes has also advised organizations including Franciscans International and Greenpeace International. She has also collaborated with the UN, including with the United Nations Human Rights Office in Mexico, the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Climate Change, the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment. She served as co-executive director of the Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense (AIDA) from 2003 to August 2021. She has published several articles and lectured at the Human Rights Academy of the American University, Washington, D.C., and at the Diploma on Strategic Litigation and Tools for the Defense of Economic, Social, Cultural and Environmental Rights of the UNAM in Mexico, among others. She was selected as a Climate Parents Fellowship Fellow from July 2022 to June 2023 and is one of the founders of Moms for Climate in Mexico City.