ABSTRACT

Th ere are currently very important and interesting developments at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR, or the Court) regarding the issue of climate change. There are several applications in relation to climate change pending before the ECtHR at the time of writing (for example, Duarte Agostinho and Others v. Portugal and 32 other States ; Verein KlimaSeniorinnen and Others v. Switzerland ; Greenpeace Nordic and Others v. Norway; Müllner v. Austria; Car e me v. France ). The ECtHR has not yet heard any cases regarding climate change on the merits. The Court's understanding of victimhood might seem to contrast with victimhood in climate change cases, since the ECtHR does not permit an actio popularis, and expects an applicant to be ‘directly affected’ by an act or omission. However, recent developments at the ECtHR show that the Court's approach to victimhood in cases regarding environment and climate change might shift soon. For instance, in Duarte Agostinho and Others v. Portugal and 32 other States, the Court accepted the applicants’ claim on the effects of climate change on them, and fast-tracked the application to examine whether 33 respondent states keep temperature rises to 1.5 degrees Celsius, as agreed under the Paris Agreement. This contribution argues that the Court has a significant role in protecting European values, and should contribute to environmental protection and hear cases on climate change through the principle of systemic integration. The principle of systemic integration allows the Court to integrate other relevant international instruments into its case law, and makes the European Convention on Human Rights (the Convention) ‘a living instrument’. By applying the principle of systemic integration to the pending cases on climate change, the Court should have a proactive stance on environment and climate change. The contribution argues for more engagement between the European human rights system and international environmental law. Under the principle of systemic integration, the ECtHR should engage with the international environmental law instruments and integrate them into its case law. Such an engagement would demonstrate more clearly the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation on individuals. This would transform the ECtHR's narrow understandings of ‘victimhood’ and ‘harm’.