UN Climate Change COP 18:Human Rights Symposium

Doha , November 27 (QNA) -Officials and experts of Qatar s National Commission for Human Rights , the Ministry of Environment and other concerned parties have emphasized the right of human beings to live in a safe , healthy and sound environment in the shade of balanced development and integration of environmental standards. At a symposium on human rights to environment and life, held on the sidelines of the UN Climate Change COP18 in Doha, speakers praised the attention accorded by the State of Qatar to the issue of environment, which has become a global concern and drew attention to the high risks and serious threats to the world due to climate change. Dr. Yusuf Obaidan, vice president of Qatar s National Human Rights Commission said at the symposium, themed "The Right to Life" that the right to environment is the essential foundation of the right to life. He pointed out that the right to life means that humans must not kill each other whereas destroying environment is tantamount to "genocide , referring to the UN Universal Human Rights Declaration which provides that every human being has the right to life, freedom and personal safety. This , he explained cannot be achieved unless the basic needs of human beings are made available. Good environment is the place where human beings and other creatures can survive. Imbalance in environment occurred when air and soil were polluted and the earth s temperature grew warmer, i.e. tipping the environmental balance that had been set by the creator,he said .