鈥榃e鈥檙e living climate change now.鈥� Latin Americans bring climate worries to high court.
| Bogota
From Mexicans left homeless by rising seas to Colombians affected by coral bleaching, hundreds of people are telling the top human rights court in the Americas what climate change means to them in a historic case that could shape international law.
Environmental lawyers also hope the hearings at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR), which were requested by Colombia and Chile, will define the duties of states to confront the climate crisis and stop it infringing on human rights.
As well as receiving submissions from climate victims, the Costa Rica-based court, which started its inquiry in Barbados in April, will hear from U.N. agencies, legal experts, grassroots environmental campaign groups, and youth groups.
The next sessions are due to be held in Brasilia and then Manaus, Brazil, at the end of May, and an advisory opinion is expected by May 2025.
鈥淲e鈥檙e hoping that the court鈥檚 legal opinion is a guide and reference for Mexico, and other states, to develop public policies from a climate justice perspective,鈥� said Nora Cabrera, a lawyer and head of Our Future, a Mexico-based youth climate justice campaign group.
鈥淎nd that it includes loss and damage compensation for affected communities, and adaptation policies for those not yet directly affected by climate change,鈥� said Ms. Cabrera, who will be speaking at the next hearing in Manaus.
In January, Colombia and Chile asked the IACHR to issue an advisory opinion, saying that they were experiencing the 鈥渄aily challenge of dealing with the consequences of the climate emergency,鈥� including fires, landslides, droughts, and floods.
鈥淭hese events reveal the need for an urgent response based on the principles of equity, justice, cooperation, and sustainability, with a human rights-based approach,鈥� they said in their petition.
鈥淭here is a close relationship between the climate emergency and the violation of human rights,鈥� they added.
It is this link between climate change and human rights that the IACHR will seek to define, while also examining how climate change affects migration and looking at the disproportionate effect on children, women, and Indigenous people.
Chile and Colombia also asked the court for clarification on a state鈥檚 duties to protect environmental activists.
Latin America is the most dangerous place in the world for environmental and land defenders, according to advocacy group Global Witness. Around 90% of the 177 killings of environmental activists recorded in 2022 took place in the region.
鈥淭he hearing aims to ask for clarity about human rights obligations and the climate crisis,鈥� said Jacob Kopas, senior attorney at the Earthjustice environmental group, one of a group of lawyers who spoke at the Barbados hearing on April 26.
鈥淚t will help to create a more concise framework to guide state behavior and policy to confront the climate crisis and protect human rights,鈥� said Mr. Kopas.
鈥榃e鈥檙e living climate change now鈥�
Among those submitting testimonies will be the residents of the El Bosque fishing community in Tabasco, Mexico, where rising sea levels caused by climate change have swept away about 200 meters of coastline.
Since 2019, the school and more than 50 homes have been destroyed, forcing about 200 people to leave.
El Bosque community leader, Guadalupe Cobos, said she and 10 neighbors will probably have to leave within a year and resettle in an area about 12 km away,聽where new homes are being built by the government.
鈥淲e depend on the sea but coastal erosion has affected our way of life. It鈥檚 important for the court to know that we鈥檙e living climate change now and that this isn鈥檛 something that will happen in the future in 20 or 50 years鈥� time,鈥� said Mr. Cobos.
鈥淲e want the court to hear our experiences and to know that our rights have been violated, that we have been forced to migrate,鈥� Mr. Cobos told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
The court鈥檚 advisory opinion could have important implications for climate litigation across Latin America and the Caribbean and make it easier for communities living with the effects of global warming to take legal action.
The opinion will apply to all signatories of the American Convention on Human Rights, most of whom are members of the Organization of American States. The United States and Canada have not ratified the treaty, however.
The advisory opinion will help shape the region鈥檚 legal systems as many countries incorporate its jurisprudence into their laws and constitutions.
鈥淲e鈥檙e hoping that the court makes the link between the climate crisis and human rights violations and that it recognizes climate displacement,鈥� said Mr. Cabrera, whose organization has been supporting the El Bosque community.
Future climate litigation
The IACHR is known for its progressive stance on climate justice and human rights.
In March, it recognized that citizens in Peru have the right to a healthy environment when it ruled in favor of people living in the Andean mining town of La Oroya, who had suffered from decades of environmental pollution.
Other courts are also breaking new ground in this sphere.
In Colombia in April, in response to a lawsuit filed by a farming couple who were driven out of their home by flooding caused by heavy rains, the country鈥檚 constitutional court recognized the links between environmental disasters and climate change and people being forcibly displaced.
Across the world, other top courts are also examining the connection between human rights and climate change. On April 9, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that the Swiss government had violated the human rights of its citizens by failing to do enough to combat climate change.
Two other courts 鈥撀爐he International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Seas (ITLOS) 鈥撀燼re also expected to give advisory opinions on international legal obligations of states regarding climate change.
Mr. Kopas said the IACHR ruling could lead the way by delivering a 鈥渇orward-reaching and progressive鈥� advisory opinion.
鈥淚t鈥檚 historic because of the climate crisis we are in. This is the crisis of our lifetime and of all future generations.鈥�
This story was reported by the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
