Environment as a fundamental right

Abstract

The 1988 Constitution raised the environment, a human right of third generation, to the category of fundamental right, when disposing of the intergenerational responsibility of its preservation in its article 225. It is well known that the recognition of a right as a human right implies the attribution of a greater degree of relevance within the sphere of juridical values, and that it enjoys greater support and instrumentality in order to assert itself. In a world where environmental problems are becoming more and more serious every day, it is very important that the right to the ecologically balanced environment, which derives directly from the overprinciple of the dignity of the human person, should be considered in this way, under pain of that the constitutional dictates on the preservation of the environment are not materialised. In this sense, this article aims to analyze the importance of legal protection of the environment as a fundamental human right, as well as the consequences for both the State and the population, through the analysis of national and international documents and the jurisprudence of higher courts on the subject. In the case of a right whose protection is indispensable to the maintenance of human life for present and future generations, the health of the environment is inalienable and inalienable, and only its observance has the power to maintain human dignity in a dignified manner in a planet that, every day, suffers most from the harmful effects of anthropocentric and utilitarian action against nature.