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

• Author(s): Prosperity Nhabiganuchi Omezuruike
• Paper ID: 1713743
• Page: 1703-1712
• Published Date: 23-01-2026
• Published In: Iconic Research And Engineering Journals
• Publisher: IRE Journals
• e-ISSN: 2456-8880
• Volume/Issue: Volume 9 Issue 7 January-2026

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

Citations

IRE Journals:
Prosperity Nhabiganuchi Omezuruike "Climate Change as A Human Rights Issue: The Role of Environmental Law in Protecting Vulnerable Communities" Iconic Research And Engineering Journals Volume 9 Issue 7 2026 Page 1703-1712

IEEE:
Prosperity Nhabiganuchi Omezuruike "Climate Change as A Human Rights Issue: The Role of Environmental Law in Protecting Vulnerable Communities" Iconic Research And Engineering Journals, 9(7)