Constitutional Protection of the Environment and Its Impact on Fundamental Rights

Abstract

This paper examines the constitutional configuration of the right to the environment within the Spanish legal system, taking as its starting point the evolution of Article 45 of the Spanish Constitution, from an initially programmatic formulation to a process of progressive normative densification. Against this background, it analyses the interaction between environmental protection and genuine fundamental rights, a phenomenon that arises when environmental harm goes beyond the sphere of collective interests and directly affects constitutionally protected interests, such as the right to life and to physical and moral integrity –Article 15–, the right to personal and family privacy –Article 18.1–, and the inviolability of the home –Article 18.2–. To this end, the study is based on a systematic analysis of the case law of the Spanish Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights, highlighting the tense dialogue between the two courts in the construction of an indirect yet effective form of protection against environmental damage. As an additional point of interest, the paper addresses the current projection of this doctrine in the field of climate change, in light of the recent case law of the European Court of Human Rights, which reinforces States’ positive obligations in relation to climate mitigation and adaptation. The paper concludes by highlighting the challenges that this evolution poses for the Spanish Constitutional Court, which is called upon to define the scope of the climate variable in the interpretation of fundamental rights without altering the constitutionally enshrined catalogue of rights.