Articles for category: Intellectual Property and the Human Right to a Healthy Environment

The Status of the Right to a Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment Under Customary International Law

The recognition of a right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment remains contested under customary international law. Some view recent UN resolutions as evidence of its emergence, while others argue they merely reinforce existing obligations. The Human Rights Council and General Assembly have acknowledged this right, but states differ on its legal impact. As the International Court of Justice examines the issue, the focus is shifting from recognition to implementation, with institutions now working to monitor and enforce environmental human rights.

4. April 2025

Right to a healthy environment, Völkerrecht

Intellectual Property and the Human Right to a Healthy Environment

Elena Izyumenko

With the effects of climate change escalating, there has been a notable increase in discussions about the, at first glance, not obvious impact of IP protection on environmental sustainability. At the same time, considerations of human and fundamental rights in the context of IP protection are increasingly shaping the legal discourse. Given these two major trends in IP law – growing attention to environmental sustainability as well as to human and fundamental rights – it seems that the time is ripe to explore what the human right to a healthy environment might mean for IP.

3. April 2025

EMRK, EU Charter, Geistiges Eigentum, Right to a healthy environment

The Status of the Right to a Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment Under Customary International Law

Intellectual Property and the Human Right to a Healthy Environment

The Fifth Republic Under Strain

The Double Effect of “Double Standards”

Doppelfolge der „Double Standards“