Minimum ecological standards for the evolution of the Strasbourg system towards Ecological human rights

This chapter provides some answers to the questions: Is the protection offered by the European Court of Human Rights sufficient in the new ecological reality that poses complex challenges not only to the modern way of life, but also to the established systems of governance and law? In what direction could the current system evolve? The author argues that the Strasbourg system of environmental human rights can and ought to transition to the regime of ecological human rights. She proposes that, independently of the possible recognition of the autonomous right to a healthy environment, such transition can be achieved by integrating ecological minimum standards into the ECHR’s ‘fair balance’ review. These ecological minimum standards are a set of notions that express the legal paradigms of immersive anthropocentrism and ecocentrism; that give due consideration to climate and biodiversity crises; that include the concepts of sustainable development and sustainable use of natural resources; as well as the principles of intergenerational equity, precaution, and in dubio pro natura.