Protecting the environment through human rights: a comparative study of ECtHR and IACtHR case law

This paper explores the evolving relationship between environmental sustainability and human rights within the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR). It argues that environmental sustainability has emerged as a foundational normative principle in the Anthropocene, demanding a reorientation of legal systems toward intergenerational and ecological responsibility. Through a comparative analysis, the study highlights the ECtHR’s incrementalist strategy of integrating environmental claims within established rights and the IACtHR’s transformative recognition of the autonomous right to a healthy environment and, more recently, the rights of nature. By situating these regional courts in dialogue, the paper assesses their distinct contributions, limitations, and potential convergence. It concludes that the legitimacy and effectiveness of human rights law in the twenty- first century will depend on its capacity to reconcile anthropocentric legal traditions with ecological imperatives, ensuring both enforceability and normative ambition.