Researchers Say Coral Reef Destruction Threatens Human Rights

Researchers from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) say coral reef destruction is a threat to human rights, stressing that a human rights-based approach to protecting these vital ecosystems can ensure governments are held accountable for protecting marine environments and empower local and indigenous communities to demand more sustainable solutions and climate justice.

"2024 marks the fourth global coral bleaching event impacting more than 50% of the world's coral reefs, as well as other stressors such as pollution. This is an urgent reminder that the loss of coral ecosystems negatively impacts both humans and nonhumans," said Dr. Emma Camp of UTS, the study’s lead author, who stressed that coral reefs around the globe continue to degrade. "Implementing coral reef conservation through a human rights-based approach will provide a practical path towards a much-needed transformation of local, national, and international governance, while also highlighting the human side of coral loss.”

The article titled Coral Reef Protection is Fundamental to Human Rights, published in the journal Global Change Biology, is the result of a cross-disciplinary collaboration involving experts in law and science from the School of Law at the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, the University of Konstanz, and the UTS.

"The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report stated with high confidence that even at 1.5 °C warming, a mark that we might have already missed, the majority of warm-water coral-dominated systems will be quasi non-existent,” said Professor Christian Voolstra, a co-author and the elected President of the International Coral Reef Society. "We consequently need to think differently about reef conservation and how we fast-track to try and protect these critical ecosystems for current and future generations."

The research was undertaken against the backdrop of resolution 76/300, which the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted in July 2022. The resolution affirmed there is a human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. The UNGA established that “sustainable development and environmental protection contribute to the enjoyment of human rights to life, the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, an adequate standard of living, adequate food, housing, safe drinking water and sanitation, and participation in cultural life, for present and future generations.”