New York City, Sustainability, and Human Rights Ramin Pejan, UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (former Senior Counsel, New York City Law Department, Environmental Law Division)

me/home.shtml “benchmarking.”

Examples of “Rights language” “need to create and preserve affordable housing” “Poor and disadvantaged communities that suffer the greatest burden” “The health, welfare, and economic-well being of all New Yorkers are linked to the quality of our drinking water” “These reductions are critical to protect the health of New Yorkers”

Air Quality Monitor and model Green the City’s fleet of vehicles Reduce emissions from taxis cleaner-burning heating fuels

Climate Change

Adaptation - Resilience Risk Assessment 2010 New York City Climate Change Adaptation Task Force City-funded mini-wetland system in the parking lot of an MTA bus depot in Brooklyn

Greening Buildings

Greener Greater Buildings Plan (4 main pieces of regulations) In 2010, the Green Codes Task Force presented 111 proposals to green the City’s construction codes (29 enacted by 2012). Greener Greater Buildings Plan (4 main pieces of regulations) In 2010, the Green Codes Task Force presented 111 proposals to green the City’s construction codes (29 enacted by 2012).

Water Supply These watersheds cover 2,000 square miles and contain 19 reservoirs and three controlled lakes that have a storage capacity of 580 million gallons. Catskill Watershed Delaware Watershed

Watershed Protection Land Acquisition Going after polluters Other initiatives Infrastructure repair UV plant Water conservation Back up water supply tunnels Protection from fracking Automated Meter Reading (AMR) devices for 94% of our customers

Parks and Public Space By 2030, acquire or upgrade more than 4,700 acres of parkland and public space throughout the five boroughs. By 2030, every New Yorker will live within a 10-minute walk of a park.

Making existing sites available to more New Yorkers Schoolyards to PlaygroundsSchoolyards to Playgrounds: open schoolyards across the city as public playgrounds. Regional Parks: complete underdeveloped destination parks. Regional Parks Expanding usable hours at existing sites Asphalt to TurfAsphalt to Turf: provide more multi purpose fields. Field Lights: install lights to maximize time on our existing turf fields. Field Lights Greening the Cityscape GreenstreetsGreenstreets: plant new roadside gardens. MillionTreesNYC: plant and protect one million new trees over ten years. Reforestation: plant nearly 2,000 acres of parkland MillionTreesNYC Reforestation Parks and open space initiatives

Landfill Reclamation Example: Fresh Kills Park in Staten Island. At 2,200 acres, it will be almost three times the size of Central Park.

662,111 trees planted targeted plantings Community involvement

Food 1. Food Production Community gardens City wide school gardens initiative 2. Food Distribution 3. Food consumption creation of 300 healthy food retail options in underserved areas 4. Post-consumption

Monitoring and Evaluation Sustainability Indicators Example: Water Supply 1.Number of drinking water analyses below maximum contaminant level 2.Water usage per capita Annual Progress Report with milestones

Some obstacles/Criticisms Lack of public participation Greening taxis Congestion pricing Recession

Thank you