Advisory Opinion OC-23/17 on the Environment and Human Rights (2017)

The Republic of Colombia requested an advisory opinion regarding the State's responsibilities in the context of the environmental degradation that potentially will arise by its open sea activities in the Caribbean Sea. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights stated that the climate change-induced impacts affect several human rights, including the right to life, the right not to be forcibly displaced, the right to peace, alongside the right to a healthy environment, and then highlighted the States' responsibilities for the damage that they have caused on nationwide and worldwide.

The opinion states that “To respect and to ensure the rights to life and to personal integrity of the persons subject to their jurisdiction, States have the obligation to prevent significant environmental damage within or outside their territory and, to this end, must regulate, supervise and monitor activities within their jurisdiction that could produce significant environmental damage...”

This is the first recognition given by a regional mechanism regarding climate change effects on human rights that held the States accountable internationally.