'Climate change’ is a change in climate attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is, in addition to natural climate variability, observed over comparable time periods. The preamble of the Paris Agreement acknowledges “that climate change is a common concern of humankind” and that “Parties should, when taking action to address climate change, respect, promote and consider their respective obligations on human rights”.
In its Advisory Opinion on Obligations of States in respect of Climate Change of 23 July 2025 the International Court of Justice (“ICJ”) found that States have obligations under international human rights law to respect and ensure the effective enjoyment of human rights by taking whatever measures were necessary to protect the climate system and other aspects of the environment.
The European Union, its 27 Member States and most of the Members of the Council of Europe are also Parties to the Aarhus Convention which recognises that “adequate protection of the environment is essential to human well-being and the enjoyment of basic human rights, including the right to life itself, [and] that every person has the right to live in an environment adequate to his or her health and well-being, and the duty, both individually and in association with others, to protect and improve the environment for the benefit of present and future generations”.
In recent years both the ECtHR and the Court of Justice of the EU (“CJEU”) have been called on to address the risks to human rights stemming from climate change. Until now, relatively few cases directly related to climate change have been decided by both courts and most of them were considered inadmissible. The ECtHR has for the first time dealt with climate change in three Grand Chamber rulings delivered on 9 April 2024. The CJEU has mostly rejected human rights related claims in climate change cases for lack of standing, but has more extensive caselaw concerning secondary legislation on emission allowances and renewable energy related to access to information8 and access to justice.