Evolution of the subject matter in climate litigation and human rights concerns

Abstract

Climate litigation has become a way to compel states to comply with climate commitments and to assume their responsibility in this type of conflict. In this sense, interest in how the consequences of climate change affect people's health, well-being and quality of life has led to a paradigm shift in recent years.

On the one hand, some non-binding instruments seek to mitigate the effects of global warming and are undergoing a necessary review with the aim of drafting future legislation that will oblige states to comply with what has been established. On the other hand, the already binding norms are seeing how the judicial decisions of the European Court of Human Rights are establishing doctrinal precedents and modifying the usual interpretation of laws and conventions, establishing legal reasoning that are necessary for the care of the environment and its connection with human rights. All of this will be approached by noting the importance of the meaning and subsequent application of the principle of intergenerational solidarity in the framework of the environment as a right of present and future generations.