Advanced International Journal for Research

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A Widely Indexed Open Access Peer Reviewed Multidisciplinary Bi-monthly Scholarly International Journal

Call for Paper Volume 7, Issue 2 (March-April 2026) Submit your research before last 3 days of April to publish your research paper in the issue of March-April.

Environmental Protection as a Fundamental Human Right: A Critical and Analytical Study of Clean and Healthy Living Conditions

Author(s) Gautam Solanki, Dr. B. L. Bishnoi
Country India
Abstract The recognition of environmental protection as a fundamental human right has emerged as a transformative legal paradigm, affirming clean and healthy living conditions as indispensable to human dignity, health, and survival. This study critically examines the evolution of this right through landmark developments—the UN General Assembly Resolution 76/300 (2022), UNHRC Resolution 48/13 (2021), and the International Court of Justice's 2024 advisory opinion—contrasted with domestic constitutional frameworks, particularly India's Article 21 jurisprudence interpreting the right to life as encompassing pollution-free environments. Drawing on 2025 data revealing 9.2 million premature deaths from pollution (Lancet Countdown), escalating climate displacement (92 million people, UNHCR), and biodiversity loss (1 million species at risk, IPBES), the analysis underscores the indivisibility of environmental rights from civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights. Through case studies like Subhash Kumar v. State of Bihar (1991), MC Mehta v. Union of India (1987), and recent European Court of Human Rights rulings (KlimaSeniorinnen v. Switzerland, 2024), it evaluates judicial enforcement mechanisms, legislative gaps, and implementation challenges. Objectives include tracing conceptual foundations, assessing international-domestic interplay, analyzing barriers to realization, and proposing reforms. Findings reveal persistent gaps between recognition and remedy, exacerbated by weak enforcement, corporate capture, and North-South inequities. The study concludes with recommendations for constitutional amendments, rights-based climate litigation frameworks, and global just-transition mechanisms to operationalize this right, ensuring intergenerational equity amid the sixth mass extinction and 1.5°C breach trajectory.
Keywords Environmental rights, human rights, clean living conditions, Article 21, climate justice, judicial enforcement
Field Sociology
Published In Volume 7, Issue 2, March-April 2026
Published On 2026-03-13
DOI https://doi.org/10.63363/aijfr.2026.v07i02.3530

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