Human rights and climate justice

liability, socio-environmental inequality, and the protection of vulnerable populations

Abstract

This article analyzes climate justice from the interface between Constitutional Environmental Law and Human Rights, arguing that the climate crisis transcends the ecological dimension and constitutes a social, economic, and legal phenomenon marked by the unequal distribution of risks, damages, and responsibilities. Although industrialized countries and carbon-intensive productive sectors account for the largest historical share of greenhouse gas emissions, the impacts fall disproportionately on vulnerable populations, deepening structural inequalities and undermining the essential core of human dignity. The central hypothesis advanced is that climate protection constitutes a binding legal duty of both the State and economic actors, imposing obligations of prevention, precaution, mitigation, adaptation, and full reparation of damages. A qualitative methodology is employed, based on bibliographic and documentary research, as well as jurisprudential analysis of the Federal Supreme Court and the Superior Court of Justice, in addition to the examination of international normative frameworks. It is concluded that the effectiveness of climate justice depends on distributive public policies, strict accountability, and the integration of environmental protection with the safeguarding of fundamental rights.