Every year on December 10th, Human Rights Day arrives with the same solemn reminder: human dignity is non-negotiable. Every person, regardless of where they live, what language they speak, or how much they earn, holds rights that cannot be taken away.
But today, as storms grow stronger, heatwaves become deadlier, and communities lose the homes they once believed were permanent, another truth rises like a cry from the earth itself: the right to clean air, safe water, nourishing food, and a healthy environment is a human right.
It is not a privilege.
It is not a luxury. It is not a favor granted by those in power.
It is a right, as fundamental as the air we breathe.
One day, after a typhoon swept through our rural village, I heard children asking why the lights were gone again, why their homework remained unfinished, why their parents had to spend long nights fanning them in the darkness of an unpowered home.
I live among farmers; many of whom now watch their crops fail as the heat scorches the fields far earlier than it used to. Fisherfolk see their yearly catch disappear as rivers warm and grow shallow. I have seen mothers boiling water over firewood, coughing not only from smoke, but from the heaviness of knowing their children deserve better.
These voices are not just stories. They are warnings. They reveal a world where inequality and climate injustice collide, where communities that contributed least to the crisis suffer its greatest harms.
When we deny people access to clean, affordable, renewable energy, we do not just deny technology. We deny dignity.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights speaks of life, health, safety, and a standard of living adequate for well-being. But how can these rights be realized in a world where pollution poisons the air we inhale? Where fossil fuels choke our future? Where disasters grow stronger and more frequent each year?
How can a child thrive when the energy powering their home destroys the climate they will inherit? How can a family feel safe when the electricity they depend on carries a price paid by their own lungs? And how can any nation claim justice when its poorest communities bear the worst consequences of the energy choices they did not make?
This is why clean and renewable energy is not merely a technological shift. It is a matter of justice. It is a matter of rights. It is the POWER people deserve.
Imagine a world where every home gleams with the soft, steady light of solar power. Where wind farms dance with the horizon. Where rivers flow freely, unpoisoned. Where energy no longer destroys but restores.
Imagine children studying under lights that did not come from burning the future. Imagine a grandmother breathing air free of toxins. Imagine a farmer harvesting crops nourished by a stable climate, not scorched by one in crisis.
That is the world I fight for. A world that honors the rights written in our laws and the deeper rights written in our hearts.
On this Human Rights Day, we honor not only those who defend freedoms, but also those who defend the earth—the activists, communities, and everyday citizens demanding renewable energy, sustainable development, and protection for those most vulnerable.
Their courage reminds us:
To choose clean energy is to choose life.
To transition to renewables is to defend the future.
To protect our environment is to uphold human rights.
We cannot separate human rights from the fight against climate change.
We cannot talk about justice without talking about energy.
We cannot talk about freedom without clean air, safe water, and a livable planet.
So today, let us declare together:
“Every person has the right to breathe clean air. Every family has the right to safe, renewable energy. Every community has the right to a future not threatened by climate disaster. Every child has the right to grow up in a healed world.”
Until this becomes reality, we will keep fighting. We will keep speaking. We will keep powering hope.
Human Rights Day is not just a date. It is a promise. And clean, renewable energy is part of that promise. A promise that every life is precious. A promise that no voice will be ignored. A promise that the earth, wounded yet hopeful, will one day breathe freely again.
About the Author
Prof. Oscar S. Gabriel Jr. is the Organizational Development Director of People of Asia for Climate Solutions (PACS) and a renewable energy advocate based in Rizal, Nueva Ecija. A multi-awarded educator and community leader, he champions grassroots solar energy solutions and youth empowerment for climate resilience.