Posted on July, 22 2025
There is a lack of accountability, and this stems from the absence of mechanisms to ensure that States fulfil the "duty of respect and guarantee in the context of the climate emergency."
In the case of the ICHR, the process was started by Chile and Colombia with the aim of analysing how the general obligations of States—respect, guarantee, and normative adequacy—with respect to human rights, might be affected in the context of the climate emergency. The conclusions contained in the advisory opinion are significantly valuable.
Having said that, it is worth emphasizing that the ICHR develops and details the obligations of States in relation to this climate emergency, stating that “in order to fulfil the obligation to respect human rights in the context of the climate emergency, States must refrain from any conduct that causes setbacks, delays, or halts the outcome of necessary measures to protect human rights from the impacts of climate change,” adding that this will only be possible if access to truthful and required information is not obstructed.
The ICHR continues by developing the duty of guarantee, which obliges States to organize their structures to ensure the free exercise of human rights in the context of the climate emergency. It further clarifies that this duty particularly entails the implementation of actions based on prevention and precaution—an obligation currently challenged by political decisions aimed at diminishing the power of agencies responsible for climate action in countries such as Argentina.
Finally, the ICHR emphasizes the obligation of States to adopt domestic legal decisions in two key forms: the repeal of regulations that adversely affect human rights, and the enactment of the necessary laws to ensure those rights. It does so within a context that represents a significant step forward in court decisions concerning the right to a healthy climate.
Many other considerations are contained in the ICHR’s advisory opinion, but those highlighted here are the most notable given the political context in which they appear. The potential loss of political support for the climate process, reflected in questionable political decisions, opens the space for three trenches of defence:
- the maturity of an economy that must show that climate goals are unstoppable and irreversible;
- the increasing and more robust scientific evidence; and
- the role of international, regional, or domestic Courts.
A version of this article was first published in El Pais on 17 July 2025.
