In a landmark decision, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued an advisory opinion on July 3, 2025, declaring the climate emergency a fundamental human rights issue. This historic ruling reaffirms every person’s right to a safe, clean, and healthy environment and establishes a powerful precedent that urges states to act swiftly to confront the climate crisis and protect vulnerable populations.

Nature Recognized as a Rights-Bearing Entity

In this opinion, OC 32/25, the Court took a major step forward by expanding the scope of human rights to recognize nature as a subject of rights. This is a critical legal development that strengthens the holistic protection of ecosystems that are sacred to Indigenous peoples and essential to the survival of all life on Earth, and provides binding jurisprudence to the signatory states of the Inter-American Human Rights System to guarantee the rights of nature. 

This decision builds on earlier progress, including Advisory Opinion OC-23 (2023), which affirmed the universal right to a healthy environment. By elevating the legal standing of nature, the Court is helping to shift the global paradigm toward one that sees the natural world not as a resource to be exploited, but as a living community to be protected and respected.

Advancing Global Climate Justice

The Court’s position reflects a growing global movement for climate justice, especially across Latin America where frontline communities are demanding accountability for the unchecked exploitation of natural resources and the failure of governments to act in the face of climate chaos.

Since the 2015 Paris Agreement, climate litigation has surged worldwide. This increase signals a new era of environmental advocacy where human rights and climate justice are inseparable, and where legal tools are being used to compel real action.

A Demand for Concrete Government Action

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has made the message clear: governments must act now to prevent climate-related harm and ensure remedies for those most affected. In this spirit, Fundación Pachamama urges the Ecuadorian government to:

• Implement urgent climate mitigation and adaptation policies, with a focus on protecting the Amazon and Indigenous territories, regions that are globally significant for biodiversity and climate stability.
• Honor and uphold the rights of Indigenous peoples by guaranteeing their autonomy and decision-making power over ancestral lands.
• Take legal and political action to enshrine the rights of nature, as recognized by the Court, and ensure ecosystems are protected for present and future generations

A Unified Call to Action

This is a turning point for both legal systems and environmental advocacy. Pachamama Alliance and Fundación Pachamama stand in solidarity with the growing international network of climate defenders, Indigenous leaders, and legal experts working to hold states accountable. Together, we must continue to:

• Champion rights of nature and protect the living Earth.
  
  
• Defend Indigenous sovereignty and support local leadership.
  
  
• Strengthen international cooperation in the face of ecological and human rights crises.
  
  

The IACHR’s advisory opinion is a call to governments, citizens, and organizations everywhere to demand unified global action in response to the climate emergency and the human rights crisis facing our planet.