It’s Time for a Right to a Healthy Environment in Nova Scotia

Did you know that there are no Nova Scotian laws that recognize a human right to a healthy environment? 

Many of us take it for granted that our environmental laws protect human rights to clean air, clean water, clean soil, and a climate that supports human life and wellbeing. But Nova Scotian law doesn’t actually recognize human rights to these essential necessities.

When communities in Nova Scotia are burdened with polluted air, water, or soil that endangers their health and wellbeing, they can’t go to the Government of Nova Scotia to say that rights to a healthy environment are being violated. Likewise, Nova Scotians who are concerned about the global climate emergency and its impacts here at home have limited legal tools they can use to call for more ambitious action by government.

We are living in a triple planetary crisis of biodiversity loss, climate change, and global pollution. Nova Scotians are feeling the effects through disastrous floods, destructive wildfire seasons, and the decline of culturally significant species like the Mainland Moose. Creating law that recognizes a human right to a healthy environment in Nova Scotia can make a difference.

Get Involved!

Join us in calling for a Bill of Environmental Rights and Responsibilities that:

  • says all Nova Scotians have a right to a healthy environment in which biodiversity is preserved,

  • says the Government of Nova Scotia has a legal responsibility to protect the environment for present and future generations,

  • gives Nova Scotians new and enhanced legal tools to support this work,

  • foregrounds the need for environmental justice in Nova Scotia, and

  • supports the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Scroll down on this webpage to find:

  • our model Bill of Environmental Right and Responsibilities for Nova Scotia,

  • an Environmental Rights Advocacy Toolkit designed to support grassroots organizing throughout the province, and

  • template language you can use to email your MLA to voice your support for environmental rights.

Want to learn more? Check out the recording of an environmental rights webinar we hosted as part of this campaign.

Template Language for Emails to MLAs

Please Support a Right to a Healthy Environment in Nova Scotia

Dear […]

I am a resident of Nova Scotia, and I am writing to draw your attention to an issue that is important to me: the need to recognize and protect a human right to a healthy environment in this province.

We are living in a triple planetary crisis of biodiversity loss, climate change, and global pollution. Nova Scotians are feeling the effects through disastrous floods, destructive wildfire seasons, and the decline of culturally significant species like the Mainland Moose, to give just a few examples.  

I believe it is time for Nova Scotian law to recognize and protect a human right to a healthy environment. This right has already been recognized and protected to varying degrees by the governments of the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Ontario, Québec, and the Yukon. In 2022, the United Nations General Assembly recognized the existence of a human right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. In 2023, the Government of Canada recognized a human right to a healthy environment for the first time in federal law, through amendments to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999. In Labrador, the Nunatsiavut Government has recognized, as a guiding principle of the Nunatsiavut Environmental Protection Act, that "Inuit have a fundamental right to a safe and healthy environment with a corresponding duty to protect and promote a safe and healthy environment in Labrador Inuit Lands and the Inuit Communities in accordance with Inuit knowledge, culture and values".

I believe that the environmental laws of Nova Scotia should also recognize and protect human rights to clean air, clean water, clean soil, and a climate that supports human life and wellbeing. If the Government of Nova Scotia were to create new law to do this, it would be a significant step forward towards a sustainable future and the sustainable prosperity envisioned by our Environmental Goals and Climate Change Reduction Act. Just as the Environmental Goals and Climate Change Reduction Act had all-party support, we need our political leaders across the province to come together on environmental rights. 

East Coast Environmental Law has developed a model Bill of Environmental Rights and Responsibilities for Nova Scotia that would make the changes I am calling for. The model bill draws on legislation from the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Ontario, Québec, the Yukon, and the Nunatsiavut Government in Labrador, and it also recognizes the impacts of environmental racism in Nova Scotia, the need for environmental justice and equity, and the Indigenous rights affirmed in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. I encourage you to take a look at the model bill and consider endorsing the changes it proposes.

Thank you for your time.

Respectfully,

[…]

Campaign Resources

Model Bill of Environmental Rights and Responsibilities for Nova Scotia

Check out the model Bill of Environmental Rights and Responsibilities for Nova Scotia that we’ve prepared to support this campaign. And if you want to get more engaged, take a look at our Environmental Rights Advocacy Toolkit for an overview of our model bill and further suggestions for getting involved.

Environmental Rights Advocacy Toolkit

To support the campaign by making a donation, visit our Donate page and choose an option that works for you.