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UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on ASEAN declaration on the right to a healthy environment
“We welcome the adoption by ASEAN of a landmark regional declaration on the right to a healthy environment. The declaration was announced today, after being adopted on Sunday during the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia,” UN Human Rights spokesperson Jeremy Laurence said.
“The ASEAN Declaration on the Right to a Safe, Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment marks a vital step forward as the latest regional affirmation of the right to a healthy environment across Southeast Asia,” Laurence said.
“The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, calls on ASEAN States to build on the declaration to ensure coordinated leadership and timely action toward addressing transboundary environmental harms. These include climate change, land, water and air pollution, and should include the meaningful participation of the most affected, including women, young people, and Indigenous Peoples. He also emphasises the particular need to ensure the effective protection of environmental human rights defenders and their essential work,” Laurence told the biweekly press briefing in Geneva.
For more information and media requests, please contact
In Geneva:
Ravina Shamdasani: +41 22 917 9169 / ravina.shamdasani@un.org
Jeremy Laurence: +41 22 917 9383 / jeremy.laurence@un.org
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STORY: UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on ASEAN declaration on the right to a healthy environment
TRT: 01:33
SOURCE: UNOG /OHCHR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: English/NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 28 October 2025 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Exterior shot: Palais des Nations
- Interior shot: Briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “We welcome the adoption by ASEAN of a landmark regional declaration on the right to a healthy environment. The declaration was announced today, after being adopted on Sunday during the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.”
- Cut away: briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “The ASEAN Declaration on the Right to a Safe, Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment marks a vital step forward as the latest regional affirmation of the right to a healthy environment across Southeast Asia.”
- Cut away: briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, calls on ASEAN States to build on the declaration to ensure coordinated leadership and timely action toward addressing transboundary environmental harms. These include climate change, land, water and air pollution, and should include the meaningful participation of the most affected, including women, young people, and Indigenous Peoples. He also emphasises the particular need to ensure the effective protection of environmental human rights defenders and their essential work.”
- Cut away: briefing room
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