Human right to the environment: New advances in its comprehension in Latin America and the Caribbean

Abstract

This article analyzes the normative content of the human right to live in a healthy environment, based on the analysis of Advisory Opinion 23/17 of the Inter-American Human Rights Court. The Court conceives this right, from an anthropocentric perspective, as an autonomous human right, and establishes its relations with
other rights, in addition to analyzing its structure as a human right, associating it with preventive and precautionary duties. On the other hand, the recognition of this right requires specific mechanisms to guarantee its full exercise, among which are access to information, public participation in environmental decision making and access to en-vironmental justice (the so-called “access rights”), which are contained in the Escazú Agreement.