and adequate compensation not only for the socio-economic impacts of the
interference including opportunity costs but also to adverse social impacts.
All measures that are necessary for supporting the resettlement and full
rehabilitation of the livelihood of affected people should be put in place.
26. The other right that is also the subject matter of the reporting guidelines
is Article 24. This article states that ‘[a]ll peoples shall have the right to a
general satisfactory environment favourable to their development.’
27. Central to this right is the recognition of the importance of a clean and safe
environment to the quality of life of people. As its terms make clear, what
is guaranteed under Article 24 is not the right to an ideal environment that is
completely unaffected or completely clean. It is rather an environment that
is clean enough for a safe and secure life and development of individuals
and people.
28. With regard to the requirement of being favourable to their development,
this entails that the environment should be used in a sustainable manner,
which fulfills the needs of the present generation, without compromising
the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. In this context
sustainability is understood as encompassing all aspects of their lives and
livelihoods, including identity, culture, religion and other aspects having
regard to plurality of interests and the delicate balance that should be struck.
In terms of specific legal entitlements that this right gives rise to, people are
first and foremost entitled to protection from environmental degradation
and pollution. This would entail that people are protected from activities
having the effect of degrading or spoiling the soil, water, fauna and flora
and the air of the physical environment.
29. Protection from environmental degradation or pollution entails that people
are provided with the space (including the right to form community based
associations) and the necessary support not only to employ ecologically
sustainable use of natural resources for their development but also to
conserve their environment. People are also entitled to the enabling legal and
institutional frameworks and technical provisions for engaging in awareness
creation and capacity development works necessary both to help them
avoid practices inimical to their environment and pursue locally adaptable
methods of conservation and improvement of their environment.
28 | African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights