The rise of the ecocentric right to a healthy environment before human rights courts in Africa and Latin America

Abstract This article examines jurisprudence from key African and Latin American human rights bodies regarding the right to a healthy environment, with a focus on recent jurisprudence (2023–2025). It identifies a growing trend of an ecocentric interpretation of the right, which acknowledges that the environment and the life forms within it hold intrinsic value, independently of human beings. The Inter‐American Court of Human Rights has expressly confirmed its ecocentric reading of the right, and African institutions such as the African Court of Human and Peoples' Rights and the ECOWAS Court of Justice have implied a similar shift away from a traditional anthropocentric interpretation. This conceptual shift raises important questions for environmental litigation, including its potential to facilitate environmental standard‐setting and to broaden legal standing. While some scholars argue that ecocentrism could support litigation on behalf of nature itself, others suggest it may better address diffuse and widespread environmental harm, such as climate change, where identifying specific victims is difficult. Despite its promise, the ecocentric approach remains constrained by existing procedural frameworks and human‐centred treaty language, leaving its practical impact still uncertain.