As Climate Crisis Escalates, Inter-American Human Rights Court to Issue Landmark Climate Opinion on States Obligations
Washington, DC, 30 June 2025 — The Inter-American Court of Human Rights is due to release its Advisory Opinion on the Climate Emergency on 3 July 2025, 10:00 AM CST. The forthcoming Advisory Opinion is the result of a historic public participation process and will create legal guidance for all 34 OAS Member States[1], including some of the most populous and highest-emitting countries in Latin America, which are bound by the American Convention, such as Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina.
The original request for the Advisory Opinion was submitted by the Governments of Chile and Colombia, who asked the Court to clarify the foundations and scope of the human rights affected by the climate emergency in the Americas, along with the obligations of States to protect those rights by addressing the causes and consequences of climate change, taking into account considerations of equity, justice, and sustainability. It was the first time in the Court’s history that two States jointly submitted an Advisory Opinion request.
“The court’s opinion comes at a critical juncture. Scientists have just confirmed that we have five years or less before we lock in the 1.5°C of warming that opens the door to a series of tipping points that are expected to be irreversible and catastrophic,” said Durwood Zaelke, President of the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development. “Enlisting the human rights system, including the courts, is essential for slowing warming fast enough to prevent the fast-advancing climate catastrophe,” he added.
The legal weight of the Advisory Opinion is reinforced by the Inter-American Court’s doctrine of “conventionality control.” Under this doctrine, domestic authorities of States which have ratified the American Convention on Human Rights have a legal obligation to ensure that their laws and policies conform to the Convention as interpreted by the Court. This includes the forthcoming Advisory Opinion, which will constitute the most authoritative interpretation of States’ human rights obligations under the Convention and other relevant and related treaties, in the context of climate change.
Domestic judges will be required to take the Advisory Opinion into account in their deliberations when adjudicating climate cases. Significantly, this duty extends beyond the judiciary to all public authorities, including the executive and legislative branches.
“We are already living the consequences of climate inaction: displacement, destruction, and loss,” said Romina Picolotti, President and founder of the Center for Human Rights and Environment. “The time for voluntary measures is over. Recognizing climate action as a human rights obligation forces States and corporations to act not as a matter of choice but because they are legally obliged to.”
Picolotti added, “we are rapidly moving outside the corridor of stability that has sustained human civilization, and there is no governance system prepared for the chaos that would follow. We need mandatory measures to pull the methane emergency and protect remaining carbon sinks. These are the most effective tools to reduce warming in the near term and give us a fighting chance to stabilize the climate system in the long term.”
Background & Context:
- In the lead-up to the AO on the Climate Emergency, the Inter-American Court conducted a public hearings process with a historic level of participation. The Court received over 260 written briefs, submitted by 36 States and public institutions, 17 indigenous and other communities, more than 90 NGOs and think tanks, 70 academic institutions, and 45 special experts. It held 7 days of hearings in Bridgetown, Barbados (April 22-25), and Brazil (Brasilia and Manaus, May 24-29).
- In May 2024, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea issued its own Advisory Opinion on States’ climate-related obligations under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). This Opinion stated that the 168 state parties to the UNCLOS have specific obligations under that convention to prevent, reduce, and control marine pollution from anthropogenic emissions of climate pollutants. These obligations include implementation of measures to reduce emissions and go beyond what is required of States under the UNFCCC. In April 2024, the European Court of Human Rights issued a landmark decision in the Verein KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz v. Switzerland case declaring European states’ obligations to mitigate climate change.
- The International Court of Justice will issue its own Advisory Opinion later this year on the international law obligations of States in respect of climate change. A group of campaigners have also filed a petition before the African Court on Human and People’s Rights requesting that it issue an Advisory Opinion on climate change.
- In preparation for the AO, IGSD submitted its own amicus brief to the Court, as did its associated youth initiative, FACE Intergenerational Justice. In addition, IGSD published a global analysis of key court decisions relating to climate change, which will be updated following the release of the Opinion.
For media inquiries, please contact Katie Super at ksuper@igsd.org
[1] Antigua, Argentina, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Canda, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guayana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Kitts and Veis, Sait Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, The Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, USA, Uruguay, Venezuela.
