BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — The Inter-American Court of Human Rights on Thursday issued a landmark advisory opinion linking governments’ human rights obligations to their responsibility to address the threat of climate change — a move expected to shape policy and litigation across Latin America and the Caribbean.
The opinion is the first of its kind from the region’s top human rights tribunal and responds to a 2023 request from Colombia and Chile. It says states have a duty under international law to prevent, mitigate and remedy environmental harm that threatens human rights, including through laws, policies and actions aimed at curbing climate change.
The court outlined a series of legal standards, including the recognition of a human right to a healthy climate, the obligation to prevent massive and irreversible environmental harm as well as the duty to protect the rights of current and future generations.
“The Court has declared that we are in a climate emergency that is undermining the human rights of present and future generations and that human rights must be at the center of any effective response," Nikki Reisch, program director at the Center for International Environmental Law Climate and Energy, told The Associated Press.
The opinion said states have a legal duty not only to avoid environmental harm but also to protect and restore ecosystems, guided by science and Indigenous knowledge.
“This is a historic opinion,” said Reisch. “It’s not just a legal milestone — it’s a blueprint for action. This opinion will guide climate litigation at the local, regional, and national courts, and provide a foundation for climate policymaking, grounding local legislation and global negotiations in legal obligation, not just in the Americas but around the world.”
Though not binding, the court's opinions carry legal weight in many member countries of the Organization of American States and often influence domestic legislation, judicial rulings and international advocacy. The court’s findings are expected to bolster climate-related lawsuits and human rights claims in the region, and to influence negotiations ahead of COP30 — the next major United Nations climate summit, set to take place in November in Belem, Brazil.
“States must not only refrain from causing significant environmental damage but have the positive obligation to take measures to guarantee the protection, restoration, and regeneration of ecosystems,” said Court President Judge Nancy Hernández López.
“Causing massive and irreversible environmental harm...alters the conditions for a healthy life on Earth to such an extent that it creates consequences of existential proportions. Therefore, it demands universal and effective legal responses,” López said.
The opinion comes amid growing Indigenous momentum in the region, including a summit in Ecuador’s Amazon last month where hundreds of Indigenous leaders gathered to demand enforcement of court victories recognizing their land and environmental rights.
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights, based in San Jose, Costa Rica, is the region’s top tribunal for interpreting and enforcing the American Convention on Human Rights. Its rulings, though often challenged by weak enforcement, have played a key role in advancing Indigenous rights and environmental protections across Latin America.
In recent years, the court has condemned governments for allowing mining projects on Indigenous land without proper consultation, and advocates have increasingly turned to it as a forum for climate-related accountability.
The advisory builds on the Court’s 2017 advisory ruling that recognized the right to a healthy environment as a standalone human right, deepening its application in the context of climate breakdown.
The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
FILE - Forest lines the Combu creek, on Combu Island on the banks of the Guama River, near the city of Belem, Para state, Brazil, Aug. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, File)
FILE - Yeremy Escanilla works on cleaning the debris of the remains of his house, destroyed by wildfires in Santa Juana, Chile, Feb. 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)
FILE - Visible deforestation from illegal mining surrounds the Quito River, near Paimado, Colombia, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia, File)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.
Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.
Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”
Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”
Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.
“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”
He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”
Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.
Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.
In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.
Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”
Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.
“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.
The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.
The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.
Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.
In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)
