Guaranteeing the access to healthy and sustainable food for present and future generations

The report asserts that access to healthy and sustainable food is a fundamental human right embedded within the right to a healthy environment. It highlights that while food availability in the EU is currently stable, intensive agri-food models, biodiversity loss, and climate change threaten future food security. The authors argue that the EU has a legal responsibility to protect this right through its legislative frameworks, specifically recommending that the proposed Legislative Framework for Sustainable Food Systems (FSFS) adopt a rights-based approach, phase out harmful subsidies, and ensure public procurement of sustainable food.

• Current EU food systems are threatened by climate change, biodiversity loss, and the degradation of natural resources, which may compromise the future capacity to access quality food in sufficient quantities.
• In the EU, agricultural soils are degrading rapidly, with 25% already experiencing high erosion rates, and approximately one-third of pollinators are in decline.
• Marine resources in EU waters are heavily overfished, with 91% of assessed fish stocks in the Mediterranean overfished and 30% of assessed stocks in the North East Atlantic overfished.
• The right to healthy and sustainable food is identified as a substantive element of the right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment, intersecting with the rights to food, health, and life.
• While the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights does not explicitly name an individual right to a healthy environment, such a right is de facto recognised through the case law of the European Court of Human Rights and the ratification of the Aarhus Convention.
• The authors recommend that the EU's Legislative Framework for Sustainable Food Systems (FSFS) should include the access to healthy and sustainable food as a core objective, implement a 'One Health' principle, and phase out subsidies for practices harmful to health and the environment.

APA

Kołpak, G., & Martin, S. (2023). Guaranteeing the access to healthy and sustainable food for present and future generations. ClientEarth. https://www.clientearth.org/media/bkpmy0ji/guaranteeing-the-access-to-healthy-and-sustainable-food-for-present-and-future-generations_clientearth.pdf

Chicago

Kołpak, Gabriela, and Sarah Martin. Guaranteeing the access to healthy and sustainable food for present and future generations. ClientEarth, 2023. https://www.clientearth.org/media/bkpmy0ji/guaranteeing-the-access-to-healthy-and-sustainable-food-for-present-and-future-generations_clientearth.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Kołpak |first1=Gabriela |last2=Martin |first2=Sarah |title=Guaranteeing the access to healthy and sustainable food for present and future generations |publisher=ClientEarth |date=March 2023 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/bkpmy0ji/guaranteeing-the-access-to-healthy-and-sustainable-food-for-present-and-future-generations_clientearth.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{kopak2023guaranteeing, author = {Kołpak, Gabriela and Martin, Sarah}, title = {{Guaranteeing the access to healthy and sustainable food for present and future generations}}, institution = {ClientEarth}, year = {2023}, month = mar, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/bkpmy0ji/guaranteeing-the-access-to-healthy-and-sustainable-food-for-present-and-future-generations_clientearth.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }