Transnational access to court and mandatory due diligence enforced by the human right to a healthy environment

Abstract

The starting point of the present work is the lack of efficiency in the implementation of environmental legislation. Two elements that are particularly fragile in the protection of nature are highlighted and legal instruments are proposed to overcome these weaknesses. First, ecosystem elements are not legal subjects, so access to justice needs to be promoted. Second, economically strong transnational corporations, which exploit the economically weakest countries and produce in them, disregard environmental standards and “evade” their obligations without being held accountable. Human rights due diligence laws have been debated for decades, are in effect in some sectors and in some countries and are considered soft law at the international level. The linking proposed for a better access to court and for transnational accountabilities is enforced by the concept of the human right to a healthy environment.