Climate Change as A Human Rights Issue: The Role of Environmental Law in Protecting Vulnerable Communities

References

[1] Voigt, C. and E. Grant, E. ‘Editorial: The Legitimacy of Human Rights Courts in Environmental Disputes’, in Journal of Human Rights and the Environment, 2015, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 131–132. See also; Robinson, John B & Deborah Herbert, “Integrating climate change and sustainable Development (2001) 1(2) Int. J. Global Environmental Issues 130.

[2] Preston, Brian J, “Using Environmental Rights to Address Climate Change” (2018) 2

[3] Ibid.

[4] Marc Limon; ‘Human Rights and Climate Change: Constructing a Case for Political Action’; Harvard Environmental Law Review, Vol. 33, 2009, p. 439–476.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Urgenda v. Netherlands (2015) 27 J Envtl L 517.

[7] Supra

[8] Iqbal, M. A., Khokhar, D. S. U., & Rahman; ‘Environmental Justice as a Human Right: Legal Tools for Climate Accountability’; International Journal of Social Sciences, Vol. 3, 2025.

[9] Schlosberg, D.; Defining Environmental Justice: Theories, Movements, and Nature, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2007.

[10] Walker, G.; Environmental Justice: Concepts, Evidence and Politics, London, Routledge, 2012.

[11] Agyeman, J.; Just Sustainabilities: Policy, Planning, and Practice, London, Zed Books, 2014

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[13] Fraser, N.; ‘Rethinking Recognition’; New Left Review, Vol. 3, 2000, pp. 107–120.

[14] Schlosberg, D.; Defining Environmental Justice: Theories, Movements, and Nature, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2007.

[15] Walker, G.; Ibid.

[16] Section 20 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended)

[17] Gbemre v Shell Petroleum Development Company AHRLR 151 (NgHC 2005)

[18] Sections 33 and 34, Ibid.

[19] Article 24 of African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (1981)

[20] Social and Economic Rights Action Center (SERAC) v Nigeria (2001) AHRLR 60 (ACHPR 2001).

[21] Articles 16 of African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (1981)

[22] Articles 21, Ibid.

[23] Articles 24, Ibid.

[24] Principle 1 of the 1972 Stockholm Declaration

[25] Principle 10 of the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development

[26] UN Human Rights Council Resolution 48/13 (2021)

[27] Boyd, D. R.; The Environmental Rights Revolution: A Global Study of Constitutions, Human Rights, and the Environment, Vancouver, UBC Press, 2012.

[28] Ibid.

[29] Environmental Protection Law, 2014

[30] Civil Procedural Law, 2012, amended.

[31] Wang, A., & Gao, J.; ‘Environmental Courts and the Development of Environmental Public Interest Litigation in China’; Journal of Environmental Law, Vol. 28, No. 2, 2016, pp. 215–241

[32] Leghari v. Federation of Pakistan, Lahore High Court, W.P. No. 25501/2015 (2015).

[33] Urgenda Foundation v. State of the Netherlands, Hague District Court, C/09/456689/HA ZA 13-1396 (2015).

[34] Friends of the Irish Environment v. Ireland, Supreme Court of Ireland, [2020] IESC 49.

[35] Peel, J., & Osofsky, H. M.; Climate Change Litigation: Regulatory Pathways to Cleaner Energy, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2018.

[36] Ibid.

[37] Kotzé, L. J., & Du Plessis, A.; ‘Bridging the Public Interest Divide: Environmental Public Interest Litigation and Rights-Based Climate Governance’; Journal of Environmental Law, Vol. 32, No. 3, 2020, pp. 475–498.

[38] Ibid.

[39] Sultan, D. M. S., Akhtar, D. N., Shaheen, M. B., & Ali, S.; ‘Human Rights and the Environment in Pakistan: Exploring the Nexus and Challenges’; Review of Jurisprudence and Social Policy, Vol. 3, 2025

[40] Mahbod, M., & Parnian, A.; ‘The Psychological Impacts of Climate Change on Agriculture Dependent Communities: Challenges and PCK Approach Opportunity for Sustainable Development’; Journal of Natural Resource Conservation and Management, Vol. 5, 2024, pp. 46–51

[41] Zer, E.; ‘Climate Change and Its Impact on Women’s Living’; Journal of Health Sciences and Medicine, Vol. 7, 2024.

[42] Vasianovych, O.; ‘Legal Status of Environmental Refugees as a Vulnerable Categories of the Population Requiring Environmental and Legal Protection’; Law Review of Kyiv University of Law, Vol. 4, 2020, pp. 60–68

[43] Pavko, Y.; ‘International Legal Support of Gender Equality in the Context of Climate Change’; Pravova Derzhava, Vol. 34, 2023, pp. 638–649. S.ee also; Mahbod, M., & Parnian, A.; ‘The Psychological Impacts of Climate Change on Agriculture Dependent Communities: Challenges and PCK Approach Opportunity for Sustainable Development’; Journal of Natural Resource Conservation and Management, Vol. 5, 2024, pp. 46–51

[44] Jong, I. J. M. D.; ‘Beyond the Turn to Human Rights: A Call for an Intersectional Climate Justice Approach’; International Journal of Human Rights, Vol. 28, 2023.

[45] Vasianovych, O.; ‘Legal Status of Environmental Refugees as a Vulnerable Categories of the Population Requiring Environmental and Legal Protection’; Law Review of Kyiv University of Law, Vol. 4, 2020, pp. 60–68

[46] Ibid.

[47] Jong, I. J. M. D.; ‘Beyond the Turn to Human Rights: A Call for an Intersectional Climate Justice Approach’; International Journal of Human Rights, Vol. 28, 2023.

[48] Wu C. F. Challenges to Protecting the Right to Health under the Climate Change Regime. Health and human rights, 23(2), (2021), 121–138.

[49] Ibid.

[50] Iqbal, M. A., Khokhar, D. S. U., & Rahman; ‘Environmental Justice as a Human Right: Legal Tools for Climate Accountability’; International Journal of Social Sciences, Vol. 3, 2025

[51] Ibid.

[52] Knox J. “Linking human rights and climate change at the United Nations,”. Harvard Environmental Law Review. 2009;33:488.

[53] Sultan, D. M. S., Akhtar, D. N., Shaheen, M. B., & Ali, S.; ‘Human Rights and the Environment in Pakistan: Exploring the Nexus and Challenges’; Review of Jurisprudence and Social Policy, Vol. 3, 2025.

[54] Alford W. P., Shen Y. “Limits of the law in addressing China’s environmental dilemma,”. Stanford Environmental Law Journal. 1997;16:137.

[55] Ibid.

[56] Vasianovych, O.; ‘Legal Status of Environmental Refugees as a Vulnerable Categories of the Population Requiring Environmental and Legal Protection’; Law Review of Kyiv University of Law, Vol. 4, 2020, pp. 60–68

[57] Ibid.

[58] Sultan, D. M. S., Akhtar, D. N., Shaheen, M. B., & Ali, S.; ‘Human Rights and the Environment in Pakistan: Exploring the Nexus and Challenges’; Review of Jurisprudence and Social Policy, Vol. 3, 2025

[59] Sultan, D. M. S., Akhtar, D. N., Shaheen, M. B., & Ali, S.; ‘Human Rights and the Environment in Pakistan: Exploring the Nexus and Challenges’; Review of Jurisprudence and Social Policy, Vol. 3, 2025

[60] Mahbod, M., & Parnian, A.; ‘The Psychological Impacts of Climate Change on Agriculture Dependent Communities: Challenges and PCK Approach Opportunity for Sustainable Development’; Journal of Natural Resource Conservation and Management, Vol. 5, 2024, pp. 46–51

[61] Ibid.

[62] Peel J. “Issues in climate change litigation,”. Carbon and Climate Law Review. 2011;1:15–24.

[63] Bodansky D. “Climate change and human rights: Unpacking the issues,”. Georgia Journal International and Comparative Law. 2010;38:513.

@article{1713743,
      author = {Prosperity Nhabiganuchi Omezuruike},
      title = {Climate Change as A Human Rights Issue: The Role of Environmental Law in Protecting Vulnerable Communities},
      journal = {Iconic Research And Engineering Journals},
      year = {2026},
      volume = {9},
      number = {7},
      pages = {1703-1712},
      issn = {2456-8880},
      url = {https://www.irejournals.com/formatedpaper/1713743.pdf},
      abstract = {Climate change is now being recognized  not just as an environmental crisis but a far-reaching human rights crisis that particularly affects vulnerable and marginalized communities. Its impacts which include food insecurity and forced displacement, as well as, health hazards and loss of livelihoods, widen the prevailing iniquities and socially compromise the fundamental privileges of life, health, water, housing, and dignity. The increasing acceptance of environmental justice as a human right is an indication of the convergence between the international environmental law and human rights framework in such areas as global instruments such as the UNFCCC, Paris Agreement, and the resolutions of the UN Human Rights Council, as well as in regional jurisprudence in the form of the African Charter, landmark cases such as Urgenda v Netherlands and SERAC v Nigeria. The paper is an exploration of conceptual and legal frameworks that reinvent climate change as a rights-based phenomenon, a discussion of constitutional, regional, and international strategies that attempt to hold states and corporations responsible. It also examines how Environmental Public Interest Litigation (EPIL) has transformed to develop accountability mechanisms through the improvement of access to justice in the various jurisdictions. Specific focus is placed on the unequal effects on Indigenous peoples, women and marginalized urban and rural communities, whose susceptibility is a reflection of the global crisis in climate justice. Although substantial gains have been achieved in connecting environmental protection with human rights, there are still some challenges that are difficult to overcome, including disjointed legal norms, territorial issues, poor enforcement, and political inertia. The paper closes by recommending on the need to empower rights-based law, harmonization of international cooperation and participatory governance ensuring equitable protection and climate justice.},
      keywords = {Climate Change, Human Rights, Environmental Justice, Vulnerable Communities, Climate Accountability},
      month = {January},
  }