The Inter-American ecocentric turn of the right to a healthy environment: from transformative approaches to environmental and climate justice

Abstract

The Inter-American ecocentric turn of the right to a healthy environment marks a transformative shift in environmental protection and climate justice. Recognised in the Protocol of San Salvador, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has construed it as an autonomous and justiciable right under the American Convention on Human Rights, and as a framework for addressing the climate emergency, including an autonomous right to a healthy climate and nature as a rights-holder. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has contributed greatly to this development, especially the Special Rapporteurship on Economic, Social, Cultural, and Environmental Rights, which has clarified state obligations and strengthened accountability. Drawing on international transformative constitutionalism, this article offers an integrated account of how the Commission and the Court, through sustained engagement with communities of practice, have specified this right's content and the legal duties that follow, while also offering a guide to the System's environment-related mechanisms.