Monday 5 July 2004

This right is based in a number of pieces of legislation from the UN Convention on the rights of the Child to the European Convention of Human Rights. Taken together, these represent a growing trend in international and European law enshrining a precautionary approach to the protection of the environment and human health.

This approach is also enshrined in legislation in various European Union countries, including Spain and Portugal. Earlier this month the French Parliament approved a charter for the environment which includes the precautionary principle and makes a healthy environment a constitutional right for French citizens.

The European Union also has an established track record in legislating for the avoidance of hazards and in the UK, statutory protections in the workplace already seek to avoid hazards as well as risks or harm, including by requiring the substitution of hazardous substances by non-hazardous alternatives.

One of the hottest debates in the new European Parliament will be the negotiation of the Commission's proposals for chemical legislation reform. If the right of the child to a clean and safe environment established in international law is to have any meaning, WWF considers that the European Union must phase out the use of hazardous man-made chemicals within proposed European chemicals legislation.

"The European Parliament has no legal excuse to delay taking action in the mandatory phasing out hazardous chemicals within the proposed European chemicals legislation. It is simply a matter of political will," said Justin Woolford, WWF Chemicals and Health Campaign Leader. "The writing is on the wall for hazardous chemicals as the legal system supports the right of a child to a clean and safe environment, a view also held by numerous respected scientists and the vast majority of European citizens."

The consequences of a failure to act can be tragic. Early concerns about the dangers associated with exposure to asbestos and lead in petrol have proven to be accurate, with the Health and Safety Executive now estimating that 10,000 people a year will die of asbestos related diseases by 2010. The forthcoming European chemicals legislation could significantly reduce the threat of hazardous chemicals.

Legal case history includes actions by the EU and Governments taken on a precautionary basis, particularly in relation to the protection of children. In 2001 the UK High Court rejected a judicial review challenge to a Government decision to ban a chemical used in domestic fly control products simply on the basis that it was a hazard and without evidence of risk or harm and expressly on a 'precautionary' basis.

When the EU took action to withdraw certain animal antibiotics on a precautionary basis, the European Court emphasized that the requirements of public health must take precedence over economic considerations, and that the Community institutions may take protective measures without having to wait until the reality and seriousness of the relevant risks become fully apparent.

The European Court found violations in Spain and Italy where the State failed to act where quality of life was affected by polluting factories, even though no-one was killed and the interference was not severe enough to affect health.

Man-made chemicals released into the world have grown dramatically since the 1940s, with around 70,000 in use today. Of particular concern to WWF are synthetic chemicals that build up in bodies of humans and wildlife and those that can disrupt our natural hormone systems. Some of these are widely used in everyday products and are known to have the potential to cause harm but they have not yet been conclusively proved to do so. The issue is that they have the potential to cause long-term harm but the proof may not come to light for years.