By Malaysian Bar
“Above all, a lasting and satisfactory solution requires human will and wisdom — at the individual, social and political levels — to change our habits, comforts and current way of life in order to secure a future for ourselves and those who are yet to come.”
International Court of Justice (“ICJ”)’s Advisory Opinion on Obligations
of States in Respect of Climate Change 1
The Malaysian Bar welcomes the historic adoption of the ASEAN Declaration (“Declaration”) on the Right to a Safe, Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment, adopted by ASEAN Member States on 26 October 2025 during the 47th ASEAN Summit held in Kuala Lumpur.2
This landmark Declaration represents a decisive regional commitment to uphold the universal human right to a safe, clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. It is recalled that the United Nations General Assembly had, on 28 July 2022, adopted Resolution A/RES/76/300 (“UNGA Resolution 76/300”) recognising the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment for all people, calling upon States to scale up efforts to ensure a healthy environment. This right is now firmly embraced within ASEAN’s own human rights framework through the Declaration.
The Malaysian Bar commends the Declaration’s holistic approach, which emphasises access to information, public participation, access to justice and corporate accountability. These are vital in ensuring that environmental protection is not only aspirational but also enforceable and inclusive. The inclusion of “safe” in the definition of the Declaration underscores ASEAN’s acknowledgment that environmental degradation threatens not only ecosystems but also human health, security, and social stability.
The Declaration comes in the wake of the Advisory Opinion of the ICJ on the Obligations of States in Respect of Climate Change, issued on 23 July 2025.3 In that unanimous opinion, the ICJ reaffirmed that States have erga omnes obligations — obligations owed to the international community as a whole to prevent environmental harm and to take effective measures to address the climate crisis.4
The ICJ made clear that:
(1) climate change constitutes an urgent and existential threat, requiring “deep, rapid and sustained” reductions in greenhouse gas emissions;
(2) States must regulate fossil fuel activities and ensure their environmental impact assessments include full life-cycle emissions;
(3) the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is essential to the enjoyment of all other human rights; and
(4) failure to act on climate change may give rise to State responsibility, including obligations to provide reparation or revoke measures that contribute to environmental harm.
Taken together, the ASEAN Declaration, ICJ’s Advisory Opinion and UNGA Resolution 76/300 send an unmistakable signal: the right to a clean and healthy environment is a legal and moral imperative binding upon all nations, as humanity works towards combating the triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss.
In the light of these developments, the Malaysian Bar calls on the Government of Malaysia to promptly amend our Federal Constitution to expressly recognise the right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment.
In the meantime, the Malaysian Bar urges the Government of Malaysia to incorporate this fundamental right in upcoming legislation, such as the National Climate Change Bill presently under development, and systematically review all relevant laws to give effect to the principles embodied in the Declaration.
Such legislation should operationalise the right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment by:
(1) strengthening Malaysia’s legal and institutional framework for environmental protection;
(2) ensuring accountability of public and private actors for environmental harm;
(3) guaranteeing access to information, public participation and access to justice in environmental matters; and
(4) aligning Malaysia’s domestic laws and policies with its regional and international commitments.
As environmental challenges intensify — from climate-induced disasters to toxic pollution and biodiversity loss — the time has come for Malaysia to translate regional commitments into domestic action. Enacting laws that reflect the Declaration’s principles will anchor Malaysia’s environmental governance in justice, sustainability, and human dignity.
The Malaysian Bar stands ready to support the Government, Parliament, and relevant stakeholders in developing and implementing legislation that ensures the full realisation of the right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment.
In safeguarding the environment, we safeguard life itself, for this generation and the next.
Mohamad Ezri b Abdul Wahab
President
Malaysian Bar
13 November 2025
1 Obligations of States in Respect of Climate Change (Advisory Opinion, General List No. 187), International Court of Justice, 23 July 2025, The Hague: International Court of Justice.
2 ASEAN Declaration on the Right to a Safe, Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) website, 28 October 2025.
3 Supra note 1.
4 Supra note 1, para 442.
Source: https://www.malaysianbar.org.my/article/news/press-statements/press-statements/press-release-the-malaysian-bar-welcomes-asean-s-landmark-declaration-on-the-right-to-a-safe-clean-healthy-and-sustainable-environment. Archived at https://perma.cc/X7YD-P7DQ
