Justicia Climática y Derechos Humanos: Estándares y Herramientas Jurídicas de la Opinión Consultiva 32/25 de la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos

The document provides a comprehensive analysis of the IACtHR's Advisory Opinion OC-32/25, which recognizes the right to a healthy climate as an autonomous and justiciable right. It details the court's findings on the obligations of states to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, adapt to climate impacts, and cooperate internationally. The report emphasizes the recognition of Nature as a subject of rights and the establishment of a reinforced due diligence standard for preventing climate damage. It also explores the specific protections required for vulnerable groups, including indigenous peoples, LGBTIQ+ individuals, persons with disabilities, and future generations, while outlining the necessity of comprehensive climate reparations and environmental democracy.

• The IACtHR recognizes the right to a healthy climate as an autonomous and justiciable right derived from the right to a healthy environment, protecting both current and future generations and Nature itself.
• The Court establishes that the prohibition of anthropogenic activities causing irreversible environmental damage to the planetary ecosystem has attained the status of jus cogens, making it a binding universal obligation for all states.
• The IACtHR is the first international human rights court to explicitly recognize Nature as a subject of rights, promoting an ecocentric paradigm that protects ecosystems regardless of their utility to humans.
• States have a binding obligation to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which includes establishing binding mitigation targets based on the best available science, historical contributions, and respective capacities (CBDR-RC).
• The Court identifies a reinforced due diligence standard for preventing climate damage, requiring states to strictly regulate and supervise high-emission sectors, specifically fossil fuel exploration, extraction, transport, processing, cement manufacturing, and agro-industrial activities.
• States are obligated to define, update, and execute National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) that are immediately enforceable and increasingly ambitious, integrating both scientific data and indigenous, traditional, and local knowledge.
• International cooperation in the context of the climate emergency is a legally binding obligation based on the principle of good faith, encompassing technology transfer, financial assistance, and policy coordination.
• Both states and corporations have human rights obligations regarding the climate emergency; high-emission companies have a greater legal responsibility to contribute to mitigation and must be held accountable under the 'polluter pays' principle.
• The Court recognizes the right to science, asserting that all people must have access to the benefits of measures based on the best available science and traditional knowledge, and that states must actively combat climate disinformation.
• Indigenous peoples are identified as particularly vulnerable to climate change, requiring reinforced due diligence, the protection of their territories, and the mandatory requirement of free, prior, and informed consent for large-scale projects with significant impacts.
• The Court addresses climate-induced human mobility as a transversal issue, obligating states to prevent forced displacement and provide humanitarian protection, such as humanitarian visas or refugee status, for those displaced by climate disasters.
• Intergenerational equity is established as a binding legal duty, meaning that delaying climate action imposes an unfair burden on future generations and constitutes a violation of international human rights law.
• Environmental democracy is reinforced through the obligation to ensure 'significant' public participation in climate decision-making and the protection of environmental defenders, who must be shielded from criminalization and harassment.
• Comprehensive climate reparation is defined as a structural pillar of climate action, equal to mitigation and adaptation, requiring measures that are transformative and address the structural causes of vulnerability.
• Access to climate justice requires the removal of legal and financial barriers, the adoption of flexible evidentiary standards (such as presumptions of causality), and the recognition of transboundary standing for victims to seek reparations in the state of origin of the damage.

APA

Arroyave, L., Bateman, S., Boyd, D., Bernal, V. C., Campos-Vega, M., Umesha, H. C., Chaparro, S., Chiemi, T., De Bona, M., Martins, I. G., Silva, J. A. G., Comi, M. L. G., Gómez-Betancur, L., Grijalva, A., Guidi, E. S., Albarracín, B. H., Piedrahita, F. I., Khatri, U., Kopas, J., ... Miller, A. (2025). Justicia Climática y Derechos Humanos: Estándares y Herramientas Jurídicas de la Opinión Consultiva 32/25 de la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos. Center for International Environmental Law. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/opinion_consultiva_climatica_corte_interamericana_herramientas_juridicas.pdf

Chicago

Arroyave, Lina, Selena Bateman, David Boyd, Valeria Cabrera Bernal, Mariana Campos-Vega, H.L. Chamindri Umesha, Sergio Chaparro, et al. Justicia Climática y Derechos Humanos: Estándares y Herramientas Jurídicas de la Opinión Consultiva 32/25 de la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos. Center for International Environmental Law, 2025. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/opinion_consultiva_climatica_corte_interamericana_herramientas_juridicas.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{arroyave2025justicia, author = {Arroyave, Lina and Bateman, Selena and Boyd, David and Bernal, Valeria Cabrera and Campos-Vega, Mariana and Umesha, H.L. Chamindri and Chaparro, Sergio and Chiemi, Trina and De Bona, Melina and Martins, Ingrid Gomes and Silva, Juan Angel Gómez and Comi, María Luisa Gómez and Gómez-Betancur, Luisa and Grijalva, Agustín and Guidi, Elena Sofia and Albarracín, Beldys Hernández and Piedrahita, Federico Isaza and Khatri, Upasana and Kopas, Jacob and Lofts, Katherine and Luengo, Sebastian and Blanco, Adrián Martínez and Manupipatpong, Mae and Cáceres, Dalet Merchán and Rodríguez, Natalia Oviedo and Phillips, Carly and Pino, Felipe and Plazas, Ana Sofía and Reisch, Nikki and Ribeiro, Marcella and Sauer, Clara and Mosquera, Laura Serna and Serra, Maria Alejandra and Shetye, Aditi and Soni, Gunjan and Spiegel, Jennifer and Vieira, Victor Hugo Streit and Super, Katie and Terena, Ricardo and Tigre, Maria Antonia and Vargas, Karla and Lennon, Erika and Lux, Cristina and Miller, Anna}, title = {{Justicia Climática y Derechos Humanos: Estándares y Herramientas Jurídicas de la Opinión Consultiva 32/25 de la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2025}, month = oct, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/opinion_consultiva_climatica_corte_interamericana_herramientas_juridicas.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }