Latin America Court Calls for Unified Climate Action as Legal Fights Mount

• The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) issued a non-binding advisory opinion on July 3, 2025, urging member states to cooperate on climate action and avoid measures that undermine environmental protections. The court, which has jurisdiction over 20 Latin American and Caribbean countries, emphasised that states must regulate and monitor corporate greenhouse gas emissions and require companies to adopt effective climate measures.
• The opinion also called on states to discourage greenwashing and undue corporate influence, and to legislate mandatory corporate due diligence on human rights and climate risks throughout value chains. States must set binding, ambitious emissions targets with concrete timelines, and climate cooperation must go beyond transboundary harm to include a full spectrum of mitigation and adaptation efforts.
• Maria Antonia Tigre of Columbia Law School noted that while non-binding, IACHR opinions often influence domestic courts and are cited in contentious cases. She referenced the court’s 2024 ruling ordering Peru to compensate a mining town, based on a 2017 advisory opinion recognising a healthy environment as a human right.
• The opinion aligns with a growing global trend in climate litigation. It also parallels Vanuatu’s request for the UN’s top court to acknowledge the harm caused by climate change and define states' legal obligations. The IACHR opinion noted that climate litigation is an "emerging field" but also an increasingly essential tool for holding states and companies accountable for climate change and obligations.

(Source: Reuters)