Excerpt
In his essay for the Carr Center's latest publication, Making a Movement: The History and Future of Human Rights, Gaurab Basu discusses the legacy of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the future of human rights in the face of worsening climate change.
Gaurab Basu, Director of Education and Policy, Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
"The 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights should give us all a moment to pause and reflect on this important moment in history. Seventy-five years ago, the world came together after being devastated by war, fascism, and genocide to commit to a deeper interconnectedness in international law.
"The principle of human rights is simple—that because everyone has dignity, they are afforded rights that transcend any national border.
"The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was a critical moment to define universal rights, yes, but even more it began an experiment to explore whether we, as humans, can pursue a social contract that honors every person’s humanity. We should take time to recognize that, despite this milestone, the world continued to reel from the impacts of structural racism, dictatorships, and colonialism around the world. Despite this document, the world continued to extract from our natural resources, which decades later produced the profound new threat of climate change.
"Our global response to climate change will shape health and social stability for generations to come."
"Seventy-five years later, it is still very unclear whether we will fulfill the promise of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Climate change is fundamentally an issue of health equity and human rights. It increases the risk of extreme weather events, food insecurity, water scarcity, infectious diseases, extreme heat, air pollution, mental health disorders, and forced migration. Our global response to climate change will shape health and social stability for generations to come.
"The Universal Declaration of Human Rights should not be a static document, but rather a call to action that challenges the world to continually identify the risks to humanity and cultivate the ambition to actively transform the world towards health and justice. This will require us to understand that the health and human rights of human beings are dependent on the health and well-being of our planet." ■