Human rights-based climate litigation and indigenous peoples. Comparative perspectives and new trends for climate justice in Europe

Climate change is one of the many aspects of biotic impoverishment, which brings a direct weakening in human communities through reduced quality of life, environmental injustice and political instability.1 Because of such important consequences on basic human rights, in recent years there has been a growing number of cases brought in national, regional and international courts that aim to hold States and private entities responsible for their acts and omissions regarding climate change policies. Human rights-based climate litigation aligned with climate objectives entrusts international and national human rights law to request governments and corporations to reduce their emissions on the basis that climate change causes important breaches of international human rights law. However, human rights-based climate litigation also includes those lawsuits not aligned with climate objectives, aimed at contrasting green development projects that have a negative impact on human rights. In such lawsuits, even though the plaintiffs are not opposing that climate action should be undertaken, they are criticizing how such climate-related projects are being implemented.