As we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on Dec. 10, we should consider adding another key right to it: the right to a clean environment.

The declaration, adopted unanimously by the United Nations in 1948, boldly laid down a vision of a just world, a vision that still applies today.

In a world where many are denied free speech, peaceful assembly and fair treatment under the law, and many suffer discrimination, slavery and torture, it is essential to have a globally accepted statement to make it clear these things are wrong.

Even this country, with its policies of “extraordinary rendition” and “extreme interrogation,” needs the declaration as a reminder about inalienable human rights.

Although its promise is not yet a reality for all, the declaration provides a moral benchmark.

Despite the declaration’s enduring relevance, the world has changed in many ways over the past 60 years. Perhaps most significantly, we are facing a rapidly deteriorating environment, which is causing disastrous effects on human health and well-being.

Already about 40 percent of the world’s population cannot get enough water, and this proportion is expected to increase to 50 percent in the next 15 years.

Worldwide, outdoor air pollution kills about 800,000 a year and indoor air pollution is responsible for many more deaths.

Almost a billion people — nearly one-sixth of the world’s population — are hungry and about 5 million children die from malnutrition every year.

The World Health Organization estimates that more than one-fourth of all disease and disability is the result of poor environmental conditions, and this proportion is likely to increase given the inevitable effects of global warming.

Without a safe and adequate supply of drinking water, clean air, nutritious food and a safeguarded climate, humanity cannot survive. If we destroy the environment, all the political and social rights in the world will be for nought.

Amending the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to provide everyone with the right to a healthy environment would be a way to hold governments responsible for their actions.

This is not an outlandish idea. In 1994, the U.N. commissioned a report that concluded everyone has the right to a safe and healthy environment. It even proposed a set of principles. However, the U.N. has dragged its feet for the past 14 years.

It’s a different story in the constitutions of more than 60 countries, all of which contain provisions on the environment. Many of them recognize peoples’ rights to a healthy environment. These include Bulgaria, Mongolia, Nicaragua, Spain, South Africa and Turkey. Even the tiny African country of Burkina Faso guarantees everyone “the right to live in an environment free from contamination.”

So what is the U.N. waiting for?

By taking action, the U.N. would show that the bold, visionary and compassionate spirit demonstrated by the authors of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is still alive and well in 2008.

Kate Davies is director of the Center for Creative Change at Antioch University Seattle. She can be reached at pmproj [at] progressive [dot] org.