The IACtHR Climate Emergency Advisory Opinion: A Legal Analysis of the State Obligations
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The Advisory Opinion (OC-32/25) delivered on July 03, 2025 by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) on “climate emergency and human rights” (CEHR) constitutes a groundbreaking development in the field of international environmental and human rights law. Building on OC-23/17, the Opinion explicitly recognizes the human right to a healthy and stable climate, as well as Nature as a subject of rights, marking a decisive shift toward an ecocentric paradigm within the Inter-American System. This article analyzes the Opinion's legal reasoning, its articulation of substantive, procedural, and intersectional State obligations, and its contribution to consolidating an “Inter-American ecological constitutionalism.” Through a comparative and normative approach, it examines the Opinion's implications for the progressive realization of environmental and climate rights, the emergence of environmental jus cogens , and the advancement of global climate justice. Ultimately, the CEHR AO is argued to be both a regional and universal milestone, positioning Latin America as a normative innovator in the protection of human and ecological integrity in the face of the climate emergency.
Source: Environmental Policy and Law
Author: Susana Borràs-Pentinat
Institution: Universitat Rovira i Virgili
Language: English
Topic: Environmental law and policy
Subfield: Law
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid:
OpenAlex ID: W7110105550