Environmental Human Rights in the Case Law of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights

Abstract

This study evaluates the jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) and its expanding role in securing environmental human rights. This research examines the jurisprudential expansion of traditional human rights by the IACtHR, demonstrating how the rights to life, health, and cultural identity have been systematically reinterpreted from an environmental perspective. Based on this approach, every individual has the right to apply to the ICJ to protect their environmental human rights. This study examines how courts interpret the state’s obligations to protect environmental human rights, as well as the unique legal characteristics of environmental protection in Latin American jurisdictions. Furthermore, it provides a detailed analysis of case law concerning the state’s obligations to mitigate the effects of climate change. Central to this analysis is the advisory opinion of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on the climate emergency and human rights, which represents a significant normative breakthrough in international law in the field of climate change.

Keywords: international environmental law, climate, environment, environmental human rights, international climate change law