Integrating Human Rights and Environmental Duties: Prospective Implications of Article 37 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights

Abstract

Two complementary models have been envisaged to integrate environmental protection and fundamental rights: achieving environmental sustainability via first- and second-generation human rights or recognizing a third-generation human right to environmental protection. Within such a context, along the lines of the fundamental tenet of sustainable development, Article 37 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (EUCFR) provides that a high level of environmental protection must be integrated into the policies of the European Union (EU). In light of recent developments in scholarly work and case law, this article reviews the structure of EUCFR Article 37 and assesses its impact on the relationship between environmental protection and fundamental rights. It is argued that, despite structural limits implied by its nature as a disability-immunity rule, EUCFR Article 37 can contribute to a complete integration between environmental duties and human rights via the establishment of an emerging human right to a sustainable environment, both regionally and internationally. This would further help to clarify the relationship between the fundamental right to environmental sustainability and specific, possibly fundamental, environmental rights, spanning from the right to a sustainable climate to the duty to protect biodiversity, as well as their international legal status.