UN expert on the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment to visit Singapore in May

SINGAPORE: An expert on environmental law will be visiting Singapore from May 14 to 23, according to a media release from the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN OHCHR), on Monday (May 12). It will be the first visit to Singapore for UN Special Rapporteur on the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, Astrid Puentes Riaño, appointed in May 2024.

“On my way to a country visit to Singapore, for 10 days I will examine environmental issues linked with the right to a healthy environment, such as air quality, waste management, and biodiversity, including ocean and marine management,” said Ms Puentes Riaño in a Bluesky post on Tuesday morning.

UN OHCHR added that it will be Ms Puentes Riaño’s first visit since her appointment a year ago and the first country visit to Singapore from a Special Procedures’ mandate holder in nearly a decade.

Ms Puentes Riaño will also evaluate the impact of climate change and how this is linked to human rights, as well as the adaptation and mitigation measures Singapore is implementing. The UN Special Rapporteur will look in-depth at the city-state’s urban planning, land use, and development, including Singapore’s Green Plan 2030. She will meet with government officials, members of civil society, and academia representatives.

On May 23, the last day of Ms Puentes Riaño’s visit, she will hold a press conference at Park Regis by Prince Singapore on 23 Merchant Road. Following her visit, a report will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) in March 2026.

The UN HRC appointed independent human rights experts as Special Rapporteurs, Independent Experts, and Working Groups. These groups are referred to together as Special Procedures of the HRC. They are not staff members of the UN as they work on a voluntary and independent basis.

Ms Puentes Riaño graduated from the Universidad de Los Andes in Bogota and has a Master’s degree (LL.M.) in Comparative Law from the University of Florida and in Environmental Law from the University of the Basque Country.

With over 20 years of experience in environmental law, human rights, and climate change, as well as their interactions, she worked with and for various communities in several countries, including Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru. She teaches at the Berta Cáceres Environmental Justice Clinic at the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City, Mexico. /TISG

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