A rights-based approach can enhance coral reef protection and promote climate justice for communities.
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Coral reef destruction a threat to human rights
FIGURE 1
Human rights-based framework for coral reef conservation. The five key principles are legality, accountability, non-discrimination and equality, empowerment, and participation. A summary of each principle within the framing of reef conservation is provided.
Linking the protection of coral reef ecosystems to human rights highlights how crucial healthy ecosystems are for human well-being and underscores the inherent connection between human and nonhuman life.
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A human rights-based approach to coral reef protection could ensure governments are held to account for safeguarding marine ecosystems and empower local and Indigenous communities to demand sustainable solutions and climate justice, a new study suggests.
An estimated one billion people rely on healthy coral reefs globally for food security, coastal protection and income from tourism and other services. If reefs and their ecosystems are lost, the impact on human health and economic wellbeing would be catastrophic.
Lead author, Dr Emma Camp from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), said the window of opportunity to conserve coral reefs is rapidly closing and despite numerous protective measures, coral reefs around the world continue to degrade.
“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 Camp.
“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,” she said.
The article, Coral reef protection is fundamental to human rights, published in the journal Global Change Biology, is a cross-disciplinary collaboration with School of Law, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, University of Konstanz, and UTS experts in law and science.
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