Inter-American Court Rules Nations Must Reduce Emissions and Censor Skeptics – Watts Up With That?

Essay by Eric Worrall

An international body which thinks it can dictate climate policy and free speech policy to the United States.

Countries must protect human right to a stable climate, court rules

Costa Rica-based inter-American court of human rights says states have obligation to respond to climate change

Isabella Kaminski Fri 4 Jul 2025 07.53 AEST

There is a human right to a stable climate and states have a duty to protect it, a top court has ruled.

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In the strongly worded and wide-ranging 300-page document setting out its perspective on the climate emergency and human rights, the court says states have legal obligations to protect people alive today and future generations from the impacts of climate breakdown. That includes taking “urgent and effective” actions to cut greenhouse gas emissions based on the best available science, to adapt, to cooperate internationally, and to guard against the threat of climate disinformation.

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The IACHR’s founding purpose is to interpret and apply the American convention on human rights, a treaty ratified by members of the Organization of American States (OAS). But its newly published opinion takes into account a broad range of national, regional and international laws and principles. And it affirms that the findings not just apply only to signatories of the convention but to all 35 members of the OAS, which includes the US and Canada.

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The inter-American court of human rights is the second of four top courts to publish an advisory opinion on climate change.

The first court to publish its opinion, the international tribunal for the law of the sea, concluded last year that greenhouse gases are pollutants that are wrecking the marine environment, and states have a legal responsibility to control them.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jul/03/countries-must-protect-human-right-to-a-stable-climate-court-rules

Court judgement links:

Press release: https://www.corteidh.or.cr/comunicados_prensa.cfm?lang=en&n=2151
Consultative opinion page: https://www.corteidh.or.cr/tablas/OC-32-2025/index-eng.html
Consultative opinion (?) – Spanish, dated 29th May: https://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/opiniones/seriea_32_esp.pdf

There may be a more recent document, please post in comments if you find it.

The 29th May consultative opinion I found contains lots of references to “desinformación”, including this apparent call for censorship of dissenting views;

529. Finalmente, teniendo en cuenta el papel determinante que desempeñan en esta
materia las empresas, los desarrolladores de tecnología digital, las plataformas
tecnológicas, las redes sociales y los medios de comunicación, la Corte enfatiza la
necesidad de que, conforme a lo señalado en el Pacto para el Futuro, los Estados
colaboren con dichos actores para fortalecer la alfabetización mediática e informativa.
Esta colaboración debe orientarse a que las personas usuarias adquieran habilidades
y conocimientos que les permitan interactuar de manera crítica, segura y consciente
con los contenidos digitales. En suma, este Tribunal subraya que el acceso a
información veraz y confiable en el contexto de la emergencia climática hace necesario
el compromiso conjunto de los Estados y los actores privados para prevenir y
contrarrestar la desinformación.

GOOGLE Translate:

529. Finally, taking into account the determining role they play in this matter companies, digital technology developers, platforms technological technologies, social networks and the media, the Court emphasizes the need that, in accordance with what is indicated in the Pact for the Future, the States collaborate with these actors to strengthen media and information literacy. This collaboration should be aimed at ensuring that users acquire skills and knowledge that allows them to interact critically, safely and consciously with digital content. In short, this Court emphasizes that access to truthful and reliable information in the context of the climate emergency makes it necessary the joint commitment of States and private actors to prevent and counteract misinformation.

Read more: https://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/opiniones/seriea_32_esp.pdf

The article references a previous agreement by an international body to start charging a carbon tax on all global shipping. The following is the WUWT article on the previous international tribunal for the law of the sea ruling;