On January 9, 2023, Chile and Colombia signed a joint advisory opinion request to be presented before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR), aiming to clarify the scope of the state obligations for responding to the climate emergency under the frame of international human rights law. The request acknowledged the human rights effects of the climate emergency, especially highlighting the vulnerability of communities and ecosystems in Latin America. In this line, Colombia and Chile emphasized the need for regional standards to accelerate action to confront climate change. The applicants mentioned the Advisory Opinion OC-23/17 requested by Colombia, where the IACtHR recognized the right to a healthy environment and the relation between environment and human rights. The request identifies the IACtHR as the suitable body to determine guidelines for creating and implementing climate policies based on a human rights approach.
Colombia and Chile's petition refers to various topics. First, the applicants asked about the state obligations derived from preventing and guaranteeing human rights to confront climate emergencies. In this sense, the applicants enquired the Court about the scope of the prevention duty of states against extreme and slow onset climate effects in the light of the Paris Agreement and the scientific consensus not to trespass the 1.5 degrees of global temperature. Along the same line, the applicants asked about which actions states should take against the damages provoked by climate impacts and which differentiated measures should be taken to protect vulnerable communities. Specifically, Colombia and Chile requested the Court to refer to actions regarding regulation, monitoring, environmental impact assessment, contingency plans and mitigation of activities that can worsen the climate emergency. In this line, the applicants asked the IACtHR about the principles that should 'inspire' these actions, especially regarding adaptation, mitigation, and loss and damage.
Second, the requesting states focused on the state obligation to preserve the right to life against the climate emergency in the light of human rights and science standards. Here, the applicants requested an opinion regarding the scope of substantive and procedural obligations on human rights and the environment. The applicants especially asked the Court about the importance of protecting the right to access information to guarantee other human rights, such as the right to life, property, health and participation.
Third, the applicants requested an opinion from the Court to clarify the differentiated obligations of the states to protect the rights of children and future generations from climate change. Here, Colombia and Chile mentioned articles 1, 4, 5, 11 and 19 of the American Convention and asked about the nature and scope of the right of children to access justice to present judicial actions for preventing potentially damaging effects of climate change.
Fourth, following the clarification of the scope of procedural obligations, Chile and Colombia asked the IACtHR to clarify the nature of the obligations of the states to provide judicial actions for adequate protection and reparation of the rights affected by the climate emergency. In the same sense, the applicants asked about the necessity to implement the obligation to consult for the climate consequences of certain activities.
Fifth, the applicants focused on environmental defenders' protection, referring to the American Convention and the Escazú Agreement. Here, the applicants focused on the obligations that states should comply with for protecting environmental defenders, especially indigenous people and women, for protecting ecosystems in the context of the climate emergency.
Finally, Colombia and Chile focused on asking the IACtHR about the cooperation between states to confront climate change in the region, especially to clarify the shared and differentiated obligations amongst the region's nations. Here, the questions highlight the need for guidelines to clarify states' role in guaranteeing reparation measures by considering equity and climate justice principles. In addition, the applicants enquired about their actions to confront the migration triggered and exacerbated by climate effects in the region.
Case Documents:
Filing Date | Type | File | Summary |
---|---|---|---|
01/09/2023 | Petition | Download | Advisory opinion request (in Spanish) |
01/09/2023 | Petition | Download | Advisory opinion request (unofficial translation) |
11/03/2023 | Not Available | Download | Amicus Brief by the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. |
10/20/2023 | Not Available | Download | Amicus Brief by Avaaz. |
11/25/2023 | Not Available | Download | Amicus Brief by three UN Special Rapporteurs (David Boyd, Marcos Orellana, and Surya Deva) (in English) |
11/25/2023 | Not Available | Download | Amicus Brief by three UN Special Rapporteurs (David Boyd, Marcos Orellana, and Surya Deva) (in Spanish) |
12/18/2023 | Not Available | Download | Amicus Brief by University College London Public International Law Pro Bono Project. |
12/22/2023 | Not Available | Download | Amicus Brief by Alianza de Clínicas Jurídicas Ambientales de Latinoamérica y el Caribe. |
12/01/2023 | Not Available | Download | Amicus Brief by Grupo de Pesquisa Direito, Ambiente e Justiça no Antropoceno (JUMA) do Departamento de Direito da Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), Grupo de Estudo e Pesquisa sobre Sistema Interamericano de Direitos Humanos (GEP-SIDH) do Núcleo de Direitos Humanos do Departamento da PUC-Rio, and Observatório Interdisciplinar das Mudanças Climáticas (OIMC) da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro. |
12/18/2023 | Not Available | Download | Amicus Brief by Clínica de Derechos Humanos del Human Rights Research and Education Centre, Universidad de Ottawa, Clínica de Derechos Humanos del Programa de Postgrado en Derecho de la Pontificia Universidad Católica de Paraná (PPGD - PUCPR), and Universidad Internacional de Valencia |
12/15/2023 | Not Available | Download | Amicus Brief by Center for Gender and Refugee Studies (CGRS); International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP); Global Center for Environmental Legal Studies (GCELS) at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University; Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES), The University of the West Indies (Mona); Refugees International; Alianza Americas; and Professor Shana Tabak. |
12/21/2023 | Not Available | Download | Amicus Brief by Global Action Plan and Kyklos. |
12/01/2023 | Not Available | Download | Amicus Brief by Centro Sur (South Centre). |
12/14/2023 | Not Available | Download | Amicus Brief by Open Society Justice Initiative. |
12/19/2023 | Not Available | Download | Amicus Brief by Client Earth. |
11/29/2023 | Not Available | Download | Amicus Brief by Center for Human Rights and Environment (CHRE) and FACE Intergenerational Justice (FACE). |
12/03/2023 | Not Available | Download | Amicus Brief by the Republic of Argentina. |
12/18/2023 | Not Available | Download | Amicus Brief by the General Prosecutor of Santa Fe Province, Argentina. |
12/18/2023 | Not Available | Download | Amicus Brief by Fossil Fuel Non-proliferation Treaty Initiative. |
12/18/2023 | Not Available | Download | Amicus Brief by Centro México de Derecho Ambiental; Nuestros Derechos al Futuro y Medio Ambiente Sano A.C.; Iniciativa Climática de México; Comité Campesino del Altiplano; and Unión Verapacense de Organizaciones Campesinas. |
12/18/2023 | Not Available | Download | Amicus Brief by Patricio Andrés Trincado Vera. |
12/13/2023 | Not Available | Download | Amicus Brief by Grupo de Pesquisa em Cortes e Tribunais Internacionais – Stylus Curiarum – da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (‘UFMG’). |
12/01/2023 | Not Available | Download | Amicus Brief by Climate Action Network Latin America (CANLA). |
12/20/2023 | Not Available | Download | Amicus Brief by Red Latinoamericana y Caribeña de Niñas, Niños y Adolescentes (REDNNyAs) and Movimiento Latinoamericano de niñas, niños y adolescente trabajadores. |
12/19/2023 | Not Available | Download | Amicus Brief by EarthRights International and indigenous communities. |
12/18/2023 | Not Available | Download | Amicus Brief by Abogadas y Abogados del Noroeste Argentino en Derechos Humanos y Estudios Sociales (ANDHES). |
12/08/2023 | Not Available | Download | Amicus Brief by Judith Bueno de Mesquita, Dr Koldo Casla, Professor Geoff Gilbert, Dr Stephen Turner and Dr Anil Yilmaz Vastardis (University of Essex). |
12/15/2023 | Points of Claim | Download | Amicus Brief by CIEL, CLX, Greenpeace International, OSJI and UCS |
12/18/2023 | Not Available | Download | Written submission by the secretariat of the Aarhus Convention and the UN Special Rapporteur on environmental defenders under the Aarhus Convention |
12/18/2023 | Not Available | Download | Amicus Brief by Oxfam America |
12/18/2023 | Not Available | Download | Amicus Brief by Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense (AIDA) |
12/18/2023 | Not Available | Download | Amicus Brief by Prof.a Dra. Eulalia W. Petit de Gabriel and Prof.a Dra. Iraida A. Giménez |
12/18/2023 | Not Available | Download | Amicus Brief submitted by Alliance for Land, Indigenous and Environmental Defenders (English) |
12/18/2023 | Not Available | Download | Amicus Brief submitted by Alliance for Land, Indigenous and Environmental Defenders (English) |
12/18/2023 | Not Available | Download | Amicus Brief by Our Children’s Trust, the University Network for Human Rights, and Centro Mexicano para la Defensa del Medio Ambiente, A.C. |