Ecohome has prepared a Review on the situation of environmental rights in Belarus within the framework of the Universal Periodic Review. What’s in it?
For the second time, Ecohome has participated in drafting the review of the implementation of the right to a healthy environment in Belarus under the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) procedure of the UN Human Rights Council. The document covers the period from 2019 to 2025 and has been submitted for consideration during the 50th session of the UPR for Belarus in November 2025. The previous review focused on trends in the period 2015-2019.
The Universal Periodic Review is a mechanism of the UN Human Rights Council under which every UN member state reports every 4.5 years on the fulfilment of its human rights obligations. Following the review, other countries make recommendations and the state under review decides which recommendations it is willing to accept.
«Ecohome raises a number of issues that hinder the realisation of environmental rights in Belarus,” says environmental rights defender and Ecohome expert Marina Dubina. “Among them are the repression of civil society in Belarus, the liquidation of environmental organisations, restrictions on access to environmental information, the persecution of activists and the refusal to participate in international environmental agreements, including the Aarhus and Bern Conventions».
The Review notes an increase in pressure on environmental organisations and activists, a complete lack of mechanisms for citizen participation in decision-making, restricted access to information on the state of the environment and environmentally significant projects, and the curtailment of international cooperation in the environmental sphere. These trends have a negative impact on the ability of citizens to exercise their environmental rights.
The review covers six main topics:
- access to environmental information
- public participation in environmental decision-making
- access to justice in environmental matters
- persecution of environmental activists and pressure on environmental NGOs
- compliance with international obligations
- climate policy
Ecohome also makes recommendations for Belarus to restore citizens’ environmental rights, including stopping the persecution of activists, restoring the activities of independent environmental NGOs, returning to international commitments and ensuring citizens’ participation in environmental decision-making.
Read the full text of the review in Russian and in English.
