The right to a healthy environment gives rise to a growing wave of climate change litigation

by Renata Politi, Universal Rights Group and Louis Mason, Universal Rights Group Blog, Blog, Climate change, Contemporary and emerging human rights issues, EHRD, Human rights implementation and impact, Implementation, R2E, R2E, Thematic human rights issues

In an amicus curiae brief submitted in the Norwegian Artic Oil case currently pending before the Norwegian Supreme Court, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment , David R. Boyd, and UN Special Rapporteur on hazardous substances and wastes , Marcos A Orellana, argued that “the justiciability of the right to a healthy environment empowers citizens and civil society, strengthening democratic decision-making and fostering accountability for political decisions. Access to justice is itself a fundamental human right, including in the …