UN rights body: Right to clean environment is a human right

GENEVA (AP) — The United Nations’ main human rights body has overwhelmingly voted to recognize the right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment as a human right, and to appoint an expert to monitor human rights in the context of climate change. The Human Rights Council passed the clean-environment resolution, which also calls on countries to boost their abilities to improve the environment, on Friday by 43-0 while four member states — China, India, Japan and Russia — abstained. Another resolution creates a three-year post of a “special rapporteur” to watch how climate change could affect human rights.