Summary

In the present report the Special Rapporteur on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, Astrid Puentes Riaño, considers the relationship between the ocean and human rights and why ocean issues are human rights issues. The report will constitute a contribution to understanding the ocean as a single biome and its significance within the framework of human rights, particularly in relation to marginalized people, communities and groups. Also addressed is the importance of a holistic, comprehensive, integrated, gender-responsive and human rights- and ecosystem-based approach to the ocean, with the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment at the centre. The report is aimed at advancing adaptive, inclusive and evidence-based management measures to reduce the vulnerability of the ocean to harms from the triple planetary crisis and their cumulative impact on human rights. The Special Rapporteur also identifies challenges to and opportunities for achieving a healthy ocean and sets out priority recommendations for States, United Nations entities and businesses.