Urgenda Case: The impact of climate change in human rights

Climate change is the challenge of the 21st century. It has been analyzed from several perspectives, with the scientific and economical approaches being the most common. However, there is increasing attention to the link between climate change and human rights in recent years. One of the most powerful tools to enforce countries' climate commitments and combat climate change, is environmental litigation. Although there are no specific laws to protect human rights from the impact of climate change, new cases arise in which judicial activism uses existing law and other evidence, such as Oslo Principles, to apply human rights-based arguments. So, this study analyzes how the case Urgenda vs. The State of Netherlands has been a significant step towards for the consideration of the human rights perspective in climate change litigation.