Part F: Current Topics

Chapter 15:
Climate Change, the Environment and the Right to Development

The existential threat of global warming and the growing uninhabitability of parts of the world have brought environmental issues to the fore within international law generally, and human rights obligations have played an important part in the developments.

Wide-ranging advisory opinions on climate change were handed down in May 2024 by the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea, in May 2025 by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and in July 2025 by the International Court of Justice. While advisory opinions are not per se binding on states, they are often highly persuasive. The fact that two of the opinions were unanimous, and the third (by the IACrtHR) was unanimous on most key points, increases the weight that will be accorded to them by courts, international tribunals, and governments. We consider the opinions in this chapter.