The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Realization of the Right to a Healthy Environment

Abstract

In December 2019, some people in China were diagnosed with pneumonia which was found in the first studies to be related to the animal and food market in Wuhan, China. The newly identified virus which was named "Coronavirus 2019” spread all around the world, influencing different economic, political, and cultural fields. Since one of the most important sectors affected by the virus was the environment, the present study aimed to investigate the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on the realization of the right to a healthy environment. The findings showed that the virus reduced fossil fuels-related activities, especially in the world's oil companies and fashion and textile industries with high water consumption and water pollution, Decreasing air air pollution due to reduced domestic and foreign travel, And increasing the consumption of household safe drinking water and a decrease in the production of waste, especially toxic kinds. Also, the virus partially altered consumerism and international macro-behavioral patterns inconsistent with sustainable development, so that at the individual level, the purchase of unnecessary clothing and consumables was not done solely change the mood and on a global level, it strengthened the hope of living without fossil fuels and replacing them with renewable energy.

Keywords

• environmental rights
• human rights
• healthy environment
• ecosystem
• human security