Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The International Court of Justice's (ICJ) 23 July 2025 Advisory Opinion (AO) on climate change marks a turning point in international law, clarifying that environmental protection is a prerequisite for the enjoyment of fundamental human rights. This contribution situates that AO within a neglected but indispensable domain: the governance of soils. It argues that the court's articulation of states’ obligations to safeguard the climate and human rights necessarily extends to the protection of soils – the terrestrial foundation of food, water, and ecological stability. Reframing soil as a living system rather than an inert substrate, this contribution argues for recognising an emerging human right to healthy soil as integral to human and ecological security. It interprets the ICJ's AO as a legal foundation for soil-related obligations, encompassing prevention, regulation, remediation, and cooperation, within existing frameworks of international human rights and the environment. Through an ecocentric lens, it explores how soil can evolve from property object to rights-bearing entity and examines pathways for institutional innovation, including a global soil convention and a specialised environmental chamber under the ICJ. In doing so, this contribution aligns ethical insight with legal necessity, contending that justice for both people and the planet depends on securing the dignity of the Earth's most fundamental yet least protected resource – its living soil.
Source: Environmental Policy and Law
Authors: Oliver C Ruppel, Ruda Murray
Institution: Stellenbosch University
Language: English
Topic: Environmental law and policy
Subfield: Law
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid:
OpenAlex ID: W4417439347