Press release

Lack of action on pollution violates right to life, Europe’s top human rights court rules

31 January 2025

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has handed down a seismic ruling, holding for the first time that failure to adequately address environmental pollution violates the human right to life. This includes the obligation to inform individuals living in areas affected by pollution so that they be able to assess the risks to their lives and health.

The decision comes in a case brought by Italian citizens in response to hazardous fumes and other pollution from widespread illegal waste dumping and burning in the Campania region that was having devastating impacts on their health. The court has clarified that the government’s failure to appropriately address this issue, even though it was caused by private parties, has put the State in breach of human rights law.

The ruling should have ramifications for existing and prospective cases all over Europe.

ClientEarth fundamental rights lawyer Malgorzata Kwiedacz-Palosz said: “This ruling confirms that our human rights rely on a healthy environment – including healthy air, water and soil – and that it is on governments to protect people from environmental threats to life, no matter who causes these.

“For the first time the Court confirmed that environmental pollution can threaten the right to life itself – meaning that governments will be assessed more rigorously, with less room for discretion. The right to life triggers strong protection obligations – and obligations that governments must engage with proactively, diligently and in a timely manner – because the impacts of its violation are irreversible harm and the loss of life itself.”

Leading epidemiologist Dr Fabrizio Bianchi, who submitted supportive arguments to the case, said: “For years, the almost 3 million people in this region have suffered due to toxic pollution which has been a known risk to their health since at least the 1980s. The local health impacts are clear – from elevated rates of cancer and cardiovascular disease to digestive and urinary ailments. We need to see an immediate clean-up – and full responsibility taken by the Italian state to monitor and mitigate the situation.”

Back in 2019, ClientEarth submitted supportive arguments in one of several cases – that were later joined – and on which the court ruled yesterday.

The ruling strengthens the environmental case law of the European Court of Human Rights, and will have a strong influence on all human rights cases heard in courts across Europe and the rest of the world. In a separate legal case in Italy, ClientEarth is currently supporting a mother who is fighting for recognition of her son’s right to breathe clean air, including under Article 2 of the European Convention of Human Rights – the provision that the court clarified yesterday.

The legal advisers of Torino Respira, an association also supporting the mother's case in Italy, commented: “We welcome this important ruling by the European Court of Human Rights on the protection of the right to life affirmed by Article 2 of the Convention.

"This ruling provides authoritative support for the arguments put forward in the civil case brought before the Court of Turin that the failure of the public administration to take appropriate measures to keep air pollution within legal limits infringes the child claimant's human right to life and health.”

ENDS

Notes to editors:

The European Court of Human Rights has the widest jurisdiction of any other human rights court worldwide. Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights protects the right to life itself. Article 8 protects the right to private life. The threshold for finding a violation of Article 2 is higher for than for Article 8. Therefore, having found a violation of Article 2, the Court held that it was not necessary to examine it separately.

About ClientEarth

ClientEarth is a non-profit organisation that uses the law to create systemic change that protects the Earth for – and with – its inhabitants. We are tackling climate change, protecting nature and stopping pollution, with partners and citizens around the globe. We hold industry and governments to account, and defend everyone’s right to a healthy world. From our offices in Europe, Asia and the USA we shape, implement and enforce the law, to build a future for our planet in which people and nature can thrive together.