A Health-Centric Intersectional Approach to Climate Litigation at the European Court of Human Rights

Harvard Human Rights Journal / Vol. 37 / 2024

28 Pages Posted: 14 Aug 2024

See all articles by Angela Hefti

Angela Hefti

Harvard Law School

Hannah van Kolfschooten

Law Centre for Health and Life; University of Amsterdam - Amsterdam Centre for European Law and Governance; Amsterdam Law School

Aminta Ossom

Harvard University - Harvard Law School

Date Written: August 12, 2024

Abstract

Climate change affects everyone's health. At the same time, because of specific risk factors, some groups have a greater chance of becoming sick as a result of climate change than others. Evaluating these inequitable impacts through a health-centric intersectional approach-which considers overlapping factors like gender, age, residence, and prior health status-reveals significant health risks often overlooked in current human rightsbased cases. While the climate change litigation movement is thriving, evidence-based intersectional health risks remain surprisingly underexposed. This Article argues that a health-centric intersectional approach to climate change cases can enhance accountability for the impacts of climate change. We demonstrate the advantages of this approach in relation to two climate change cases recently decided by the European Court of Human Rights: Verein KlimaSeniorinnen v. Switzerland and Duarte Agostinho v. Portugal and 32 other States. We further show that a health-centric intersectional approach could avoid certain procedural and substantive pitfalls while responding more readily to climate-related health inequity.

Keywords: climate litigation, KlimaSeniorinnen, right to health, intersectionality, health inequity, human rights, European Court of Human Rights

Suggested Citation

Hefti, Angela and van Kolfschooten, Hannah and Ossom, Aminta, A Health-Centric Intersectional Approach to Climate Litigation at the European Court of Human Rights (August 12, 2024). Harvard Human Rights Journal / Vol. 37 / 2024, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4923518 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4923518

Angela Hefti (Contact Author)

Harvard Law School ( email )

Hannah Van Kolfschooten

Law Centre for Health and Life ( email )

Nieuwe Achtergracht 166
Amsterdam, 1018 WV
Netherlands

University of Amsterdam - Amsterdam Centre for European Law and Governance ( email )

P.O.Box 1030
Amsterdam, 1000 BA
Netherlands

Amsterdam Law School ( email )

Amsterdam, 1018 WB
Netherlands

Aminta Ossom

Harvard University - Harvard Law School ( email )

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