Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Beyond the opinions of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR), rights of nature have not received international recognition. In contrast, the human right to a healthy environment (RHE) was recognized by the United Nations General Assembly in 2022 and by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2025. What effect will acceptance of the RHE have on efforts to achieve international recognition of rights of nature? The answer depends at least in part on another issue whose resolution is still evolving: what does the RHE include? If the RHE is interpreted broadly, to encompass protection of the natural environment without direct connections to human health and well-being, it may subsume some—but not all—of the primary arguments for rights of nature.
Source: AJIL Unbound
Author: John H. Knox
Institution: Wake Forest University
Language: English
Topic: Environmental law and policy
Subfield: Law
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7169714237