The Inter-American Court of Human Rights’ progressive interpretation of the right to a healthy environment

Abstract

The article examines the development of the right to a healthy environment by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights through a progressive interpretation of the American Convention on Human Rights. The Court exercises this through an evolutionary approach, lex specialis interpretation, the pro persona principle, the effet utile principle, and a broad use of external sources. It also introduces the Inter-American jurisprudence on environmental protection through the Advisory Opinion OC-23/17 on Environment and Human Rights, which recognised the environment as “fundamental to the existence of humankind”, and landmark decisions in the cases of Lhaka Honhat Association (Our Land) v. Argentina and La Oroya Population v. Peru, broadening the scope of interpretation beyond civil and political rights to include state obligations such as prevention, precaution, cooperation, and procedural rights, access to information and public participation. The ongoing Advisory Opinion on Climate Emergency and Human Rights is expected to contribute to developing international environmental law through an innovative, clear, and well-argued decision, setting high standards for seeking justice. It will have important implications for the development of public policies and plans for mitigation, adaptation, and prevention in relation to climate change, as well as the protection of the right to a healthy environment, the right to food security, the right to adequate housing, and the protection of the self-determination of Indigenous people.