Share on linkedin A flooded street in Rio Grande Do Sul, Brazil, on Tuesday, after heavy rains that have displaced thousands in the region. Photo: Jefferson Bernardes/Getty Images
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights could reframe how governments across Latin America and the Caribbean — and perhaps beyond — deal withlast year asked the court to issue an advisory on what responsibilities nations have to protect the environment and how they should adopt measures to mitigate the effects of climate change and help the most vulnerable adapt.
"The intention is to promote measures to guarantee human rights, and also the public policies required to respond to this phenomenon in an urgent, equitable, just and sustainable manner," the petitioners wrote.Activists, NGOs, academic groups and others have suggested several actions, including that the court recommend asylum rules for people displaced due to catastrophic events linked to climate change and to have specific measures to protect environmental activists.
For example, a 2017 opinion advising all countries to adopt laws recognizing the rights of same-sex couples to marry and of trans people to have documents reflectingCitizens and NGOs would also have tools to take specific, individual claims to their local courts using the IACHR opinion.The case could resonate beyond the Americas, Celorio says, as the upcoming opinion "can become a very conclusive precedent as other international courts start looking into this matter.
There is no set date for the court to publish its advisory opinion after that, but Celorio says it could come by the end of this year.Share on twitter