The Right to a Healthy Environment and Climate Litigation: A Game-Changer?

Abstract

The right to a healthy environment is recognised in the law of many States and by some international treaties. Litigants all over the world have increasingly relied on this right to demand the protection of a host of environmental interests. In recent years, initiatives by the United Nations and by the Council of Europe have reignited the debate concerning the explicit recognition of the right to a healthy environment. This article contributes to this debate, by examining the evidence emerging from the use of the right to a healthy environment in climate litigation. The objective is to establish the extent to which this right has furthered the prospects of environmental protection and the comparative advantages of relying on this right in litigation.

Keywords: Human rights, climate change, climate litigation, right to a healthy environment