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The international community faces the responsibility of addressing the effects of climate change on the environment. This requires institutional action at different levels and regions to mitigate such consequences. Regional human rights protection systems now encounter this issue, establishing international obligations with standards to be observed by States for environmental preservation. This article aims to legally examine how the European and Inter-American regional human rights systems assess the impacts of climate change within the context of public interest litigation, international human rights and international environmental law. Moreover, the general objective of this study is to determine if there are synergies between climate-change-related law cases judged in the before mentioned regional international tribunals. Using a deductive method and analysis of jurisprudence, legislation, and doctrine, we discuss the most relevant and recent cases and standards established in these judicial decisions. In the European system, we examine the European Green Deal and its recent jurisprudence (S. v. Switzerland case). In the Inter-American Court, we analyze the Advisory Opinion 23/2017 and a request for an advisory opinion made by Chile and Colombia in 2023 on ‘climate emergencies and human rights’ and the resulting 2025 Advisory Opinion 32 on the climate emergency and human rights. The analysis first revealed the connection between procedural rights in human rights and environmental law such as the access to information and the participation of nonstate stakeholders in policies decision-making. Secondly, it showed the lack of community ideal in Inter-American system and how the Inter-American Commission is used strategically to advance climate litigation. Thirdly, this study highlighted how the use of amicus curiae in Inter-American system as an inclusive procedural mechanism for individuals contrasted with the direct access of individuals in the European system in climate litigation. The findings suggest that, although Inter-American system and European system institutionally and procedurally may differ, they have made significant efforts to define state obligations and establish adequate environmental standards and possible dialogues between the two regional systems would be highly beneficial for greening human rights.

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Emerging Trends in Climate Change Litigation in the European and the Inter-American Human Rights Systems

  • 章节

  • 发表日期：

    2025年

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  • Alex Silva Oliveira,
  • Claudia Loureiro

摘要

The international community faces the responsibility of addressing the effects of climate change on the environment. This requires institutional action at different levels and regions to mitigate such consequences. Regional human rights protection systems now encounter this issue, establishing international obligations with standards to be observed by States for environmental preservation. This article aims to legally examine how the European and Inter-American regional human rights systems assess the impacts of climate change within the context of public interest litigation, international human rights and international environmental law. Moreover, the general objective of this study is to determine if there are synergies between climate-change-related law cases judged in the before mentioned regional international tribunals. Using a deductive method and analysis of jurisprudence, legislation, and doctrine, we discuss the most relevant and recent cases and standards established in these judicial decisions. In the European system, we examine the European Green Deal and its recent jurisprudence (S. v. Switzerland case). In the Inter-American Court, we analyze the Advisory Opinion 23/2017 and a request for an advisory opinion made by Chile and Colombia in 2023 on ‘climate emergencies and human rights’ and the resulting 2025 Advisory Opinion 32 on the climate emergency and human rights. The analysis first revealed the connection between procedural rights in human rights and environmental law such as the access to information and the participation of nonstate stakeholders in policies decision-making. Secondly, it showed the lack of community ideal in Inter-American system and how the Inter-American Commission is used strategically to advance climate litigation. Thirdly, this study highlighted how the use of amicus curiae in Inter-American system as an inclusive procedural mechanism for individuals contrasted with the direct access of individuals in the European system in climate litigation. The findings suggest that, although Inter-American system and European system institutionally and procedurally may differ, they have made significant efforts to define state obligations and establish adequate environmental standards and possible dialogues between the two regional systems would be highly beneficial for greening human rights.