Can climate protection be promoted by using procedures to enforce human rights?

Abstract

In recent years, there has been an increase in lawsuits at the international human rights level alleging human rights violations due to inadequate government climate protection measures. In 2024, the ECtHR had to deal with several cases of this kind, and many more are pending. After a brief overview of the most important cases before international tribunals, this article analyzes the institutional, procedural, and substantive legal challenges in the context of human rights-based climate lawsuits and highlights differences in the jurisprudence of international tribunals. Against this background, the article examines the impact of recent case law on the further development of the climate law review standard of international tribunals and shows why climate protection can be promoted through human rights-based climate lawsuits.