From the 1960s to the present, most States in the world have enacted legislation aimed at reducing the impacts of environmental degradation. However, the affirmation of the right of every person to a healthy and adequate environment for life as a Human Right constituted an important milestone for its incorporation in the constitutional frameworks and legal systems of countries; in the policies, norms and programs of international organizations; as well as in the regulation of economic activities, promoting the development of Environmental Law. In a complementary manner, the prosecution of cases of violation of the fundamental right to a healthy and adequate environment for life not only provides an important source of constitutional jurisprudence at the national and international level; it also contributes to broaden the theoretical and conceptual scope of this right, as well as to clarify its interdependence and articulation with other principles.In Peru, the right to a balanced and adequate environment is first incorporated in the 1979 Political Constitution, and later reformulated in the 1993 Constitution. The present text offers a brief overview of the development of the right to a healthy and adequate environment for life as a fundamental right in the legislation and jurisprudence of the Peruvian State.
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