The interdependence between human rights and the environment: an analysis from the early modern age to the present day

Abstract

The main purpose of this thesis is to explore the interdependence between the protection of human rights and the environment. Hence, it aims at demonstrating the need to recognize the official right to a clean environment in order to guarantee the correct implementation of fundamental human rights for the present and future generations.

In the first chapter of the thesis, the origins in the development of human rights from the early modern age to the present day are explored.

Subsequently, the second chapter of the thesis explores the roots of the sensitivity towards the environment by analyzing the evolution in the relationship between people and the environment in the early modern and modern ages. Specifically, it presents the crucial consequences that several historical developments had on the environment throughout the years.

The third chapter of the thesis aims at presenting the contemporary situation in terms of sensitivity towards the environment, with reference to the most important events that worked as turning points in the development of international instruments and strategies related to environmental protection.

Finally, the fourth chapter defines the interdependence between human rights and the environment by presenting the contributions of several regional human rights courts. In this concern, an environmental-related case ruled by the European Court of Human Rights is analyzed in detail.