Climate Change and Fundamental Rights

Editorial

Abstract

The emerging political relevance currently attributed to climate change has been accompanied by an equal rise of interest by legal scholars. More than its regulatory issues, discussion in and outside of courts on climate change has taken a rights-approach turn. International legal literature has always focused on the deep interdependence between environmental conditions and the enjoyment of human rights. However, a multilevel analysis of climate change law and litigation perceives the slow but steady summoning of constitutional law and legal theory to the realm of environmental law even when a fundamental right to a healthy environment is not specifically protected under a particular constitution. Crossing the bridge between different areas of research is not an easy task, but that is the goal of this issue dedicated to climate change and fundamental rights.