THE APPLICATION OF THE LEGAL PRINCIPLES AND METHODS OF INTERPRETATION OF THE EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN CLIMATE CHANGE-RELATED CASES BEFORE THE EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS

Abstract

Climate change, a long-term shift in global, regional, and local weather patterns, is primarily driven by human activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels since the 1800s. This has led to a 1.2°C increase in Earth’s average surface temperature since the pre-industrial era, a level unprecedented in 100,000 years. The consequences are widespread, including intensified droughts, water shortages, severe fires, rising sea levels, flooding, melting ice, extreme storms, and biodiversity loss. These impacts threaten our health, food production, housing, safety, and livelihoods. While the right to a healthy environment is recognized and protected by the European Court of Human Rights(ECtHR) through its jurisprudence, it isn’t explicitly stated in the European Convention on Human Rights. However, the UN Human Rights Council and General Assembly have affirmed this right, recognizing a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment as a universal human right. Climate change, along with unsustainable resource management, pollution, and improper waste disposal, degrades the environment, hindering this right and negatively impacting all human rights. In 2024, the ECtHR made a landmark rulings, establishing that insufficient climate action constitutes a violation of human rights.The paper examines recent ECtHR decisions related to climate change and its impact on the right to a healthy environment (protected by Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights) The ECtHR has previously developed criteria for member states to adhere to, particularly regarding Article 8 of the Convention (right to respect for private and family life), in environmental pollution cases. The authors are particularly interested in examining how the Court has used established legal tools and approaches in climate change cases. This includes the principle of effectiveness, which has been key in defining the positive duties of Convention signatories, and the doctrine of the margin of appreciation. This latter concept is vital for determining the extent of these positive duties under Article 8 of the Convention in the context of climate change. The aim of the present research is, therefore, to examine how the ECtHR’s deployment of the doctrines and methods of interpretation- the method of causation and the doctrines of positive state obligations and the margin of appreciation are applied in recent climate change judgements, particularly in Klima Seniorinnen v. Switzerland case, and to answer the main research question- does the interpretation of applied doctrines and methods of interpretation by the ECtHR in cases concerning climate change differ from existing environmental case law?