What are Your Environmental Rights?
What are Your Environmental Rights?
A number of different rights relate to the environment.
These environmental rights come from both national and international law. They include the right to health, the right to bodily integrity, the right to a healthy environment, the right to life, and the right to respect for private, family life and the home.
(Last Updated – March 2026)
The right to enjoyment of the highest possible standard of physical and mental health is recognised in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the European Social Charter (ICESCR). The Irish State signed and ratified the ICESCR in 1989.
This right protects your body from any unjustifiable interference and is protected within the Irish Constitution.
The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights requires all EU policies to be consistent with environmental protection, improving the quality of the environment, and sustainable development.
The right to life is a fundamental human right. It requires the State to take measures and enact laws to protect everyone’s life, such as through policing and healthcare.
This right is protected within the Irish Constitution, the European Convention on Human Rights and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. It has been interpreted by courts to include protection from severe environmental degradation.
This right is protected under the European Convention on Human Rights. Similar rights to family and privacy in the home are also protected under the Irish Constitution.
In 2024, the European Court of Human Rights declared that this right requires national states to adopt and implement measures to combat climate change.