Countries must protect human right to a stable climate, court rules

A forest fire outside Quito, Ecuador last September. Countries should take ‘urgent and effective’ action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to the IACHR. Photograph: Galo Paguay/AFP/Getty Images

There is a human right to a stable climate and states have a duty to protect it, a top court has ruled.

Announcing the publication of a crucial advisory opinion on climate change on Thursday, Nancy Hernández López, president of the inter-American court of human rights (IACHR), said climate change carries “extraordinary risks” that are felt particularly keenly by people who are already vulnerable.