Landmark Inter-American Court climate change opinion
July 4, 2025
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued a landmark advisory opinion linking governments’ human rights obligations to their responsibility to address the threat of climate change, yesterday.
The ruling states that all countries belonging to the OAS have an obligation to take "all necessary measures" to protect populations from climate change. It underlined that "the right to a healthy environment" is included among the rights protected by the American Convention on Human Rights. The wide-ranging 300 page opinion said states have a legal duty not only to avoid environmental harm but also to protect and restore ecosystems, guided by science and Indigenous knowledge.
The inquiry was instigated by Colombia and Chile, which in 2023 asked what legal responsibilities states have to tackle climate change and to stop them breaching people’s human rights. The Costa Rica-based court received hundreds of submissions and held a series of hearings last year in Barbados and the Brazilian cities of Brasília and Manaus, reports the Guardian.
The move is expected to shape policy and litigation across Latin America and the Caribbean, reports the Associated Press. It means that about 20 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean that recognize the court's jurisdiction must undertake legal reforms that could increase the requirements imposed on businesses, something environmentalists have long advocated, reports AFP.
The court’s findings are expected to bolster climate-related lawsuits and human rights claims in the region, and to influence negotiations ahead of COP30, set to take place in November in Belem, Brazil.
“The Court emphasized that the climate crisis does not affect all people equally,” notes Amnesty International. “In the Americas and globally, Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant communities, rural and fishing populations, women, children, older persons, and socioeconomically marginalized groups face disproportionate impacts. The Court ruled on the specific duties of states to prevent harm and ensure protection for these groups, affirming that climate action is a human rights obligation — not a political choice.”
Regional Relations
The BRICS leaders’ summit begins this weekend in Rio de Janeiro. “Brazil’s yearlong BRICS presidency is a chance for the country to put its stamp on the group. While BRICS has often drawn Western ire for its stances on wars in Gaza, Iran, and Ukraine, Brasília’s summit agenda is focused on economic development, in particular climate finance,” reports the Latin America Brief.
“Progress on economic and climate cooperation would support an argument that Brazil and India have long made to BRICS detractors: The bloc is not about opposing the West, but rather supporting developing countries,” writes Catherine Osborn. (Foreign Policy)
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva “wants to remain friends with everyone and not antagonize the Trump administration at a moment that he seems to be winning the trade policy question,” according to the Latin America Risk Report. “So he has avoided the toughest and most controversial issues at this BRICS conference. Putin and Xi are not showing up. Iran has been asked to quietly downplay its presence.”
A new podcast, “I Spy: The U.S., Cuba, and the Secret Deal That Ended the Cold War,” focuses on the story of the U.S. Obama administration’s efforts to arrive at a rapprochement with Cuba. Foreign Policy reconstructed the secret dialogue between the Cold War enemies, through interviews with key figures in both the United States and Cuba—negotiators, spies, lawyers, and government officials.
The U.S. recalled its ambassador in Colombia yesterday, prompting Colombian President Gustavo Petro to respond in kind. The timing of the move by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, however, is curious, according to Pirate Wire Services. “It closely follows leaked audio messages published by EL PAÍS in which former Colombian Foreign Minister Álvaro Leyva is heard assuring that he has met with congressmen close to the Secretary of State to seek U.S. support for a coup against Petro.” (See Monday’s post.)
The Trump administration’s say new investigations roiling Mexico’s banking system are “a necessary step to confront the cartels whose fentanyl shipments have fueled a US addiction epidemic,” reports Bloomberg. “But it’s also part of the president’s unconventional arsenal of tools he’s used to bend perceived enemies to his will, ranging from civil-rights investigations designed to punish elite US universities and tariff threats against countries whose tax systems he doesn’t like to cajoling law firms into offering pro bono services for conservatives.”
A bill presented by a U.S. congressman seeks to force the Trump administration to come up with a clear strategy for helping Haiti return to stability — and to consult with various groups and experts before devising it, reports the Miami Herald.
Deportations
Testimony from Kilmar Abrego García as to conditions deportees face in Salvadoran prison is particularly relevant as he is first person who has been freed from the infamous CECOT prison, and given his testimony about the conditions inside. In a court filing he said “he was subjected to severe mistreatment upon arrival at CECOT, including but not limited to severe beatings, severe sleep deprivation, inadequate nutrition, and psychological torture.” (Washington Post, see yesterday’s post.)
El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, denied claims that Abrego García was subjected to beatings and deprivation while he was held in the country, reports the Guardian.
A mother and her two young children from Honduras who had filed what was believed to be the first lawsuit involving children challenging the Trump administration’s policy on immigrant arrests at U.S. courthouses have been released from detention, reports the Associated Press.
Mexico
Mexican officials confirmed yesterday that they had issued an arrest warrant for the prominent boxer Julio César Chávez Jr. on charges of involvement in organized crime and arms trafficking, a day after he was detained by U.S. immigration authorities in California, reports the New York Times.