Full access Inter-American approaches to the protection of the right to a healthy environment and the Rights of Nature and potential contributions to the European human rights system

Abstract

This article traces the evolution of the Inter-American human rights system’s approaches to environmental protection, moving from indirect (and merely anthropocentric) approaches to a more ecocentric vision, based on the direct justiciability of the right to a healthy environment as a human right and on an acceptance of the intrinsic value of Nature. The article highlights Mexican jurisprudence on the protection of the environment, in particular its use of the concept of ‘diffuse interest’ as a means of extending legal standing to persons other than those directly affected by environmental harm. While the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) continues to make an important contribution to environmental protection indirectly, through the analysis of civil and political rights, it is suggested that the approaches to environmental protection being developed in the Inter-American system warrant consideration within the European system for the purpose of developing a more direct and comprehensive approach to ensuring protection of the right to a healthy environment, particularly given the challenges arising from cases pending before the ECtHR on climate justice, among others.