On 31 January 2025, the European Court of Human Rights (“ECtHR”, “the Court”) ruled on large-scale environmental pollution caused by the illegal dumping and burning of toxic waste in Italy. In Cannavacciuolo and Others, the Court found that Italy violated its obligations under the right to life, enshrined in Article 2 ECHR. The judgment, spanning more than 500 paragraphs, raises several important issues (see, e.g., here and here). This post examines the Court’s evolving approach to causation in environmental pollution cases. In Cannavacciuolo, the ECtHR significantly relaxed the requirements for proving a causal link between harm and pollution, extending this approach to the right to life. This judgment signals a broader shift toward a precautionary approach, which has now also been established in the context of Article 2 ECHR.
The Applications
