The Right to the Environment. Advisory Opinion of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights Feasibility of Application to the PORTA HNOS Case

Abstract

In Article 41 of the National Constitution, the right to the environment expressly contemplates: “The authorities shall provide for the protection of this right, for the rational use of natural resources, for the preservation of natural and cultural heritage and for diversity, biological, and environmental information and education”. Legislation –answer to it– is dictated at national and provincial level In February 2018, a fact of importance in the matter is the advisory opinion OC-23/17 of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) on “Environment and Rights Humans” issued in San José, Costa Rica, based on the application of Article 11 of the Protocol of San Salvador –which contains economic, social and cultural rights– and Article 26 of the American Convention. In it, the IACHR recognized ‘‘the undeniable relationship between the protection of the environment and the realization of other human rights’’. The Court maintains the undeniable relationship of interdependence and indivisibility that exists between human rights, the environment and sustainable development. Hopefully, the VUDAS vs. Porta Hnos ruling will consider the constitutional, legal and Advisory Opinion of the IACHR. The Porta Hnos. firm is a company dedicated to the production of alcohol and derivatives, which has its plant located in Av. Valparaíso in the city of Córdoba and next to the San Antonio, San Antonio Park, Inaudi and Inaudi Annex districts. This company produces 100,000 liters of agro-fuels –bioethanol– per day, causing serious health problems in the said population, thus affecting the environment and affecting the health of its inhabitants. The neighbors grouped in the organization called VUDAS have initiated legal actions before the root justice of the inactivity of the municipal, provincial and national authorities despite the compelling claims.