Environmental Justice for Older Persons: Vulnerability, Climate Change and the Right to Health under International Law

Abstract

Climate change has progressively transformed environmental protection into a structural human rights issue rather than a regulatory concern. Despite the expansion of the environmental justice paradigm within international law studies, the ageing population remains inadequately examined as a distinct form of vulnerability in climate policy. The physiological ageing process, heightened frequency of chronic diseases, social isolation, and reliance on infrastructure significantly exacerbate susceptibility to climate-related hazards, including extreme heat, air pollution, and displacement due to disasters. Despite this apparent deficiency, global environmental and climate frameworks frequently fail to expressly delineate age-sensitive commitments. This research study examines environmental justice in relation to ageing and climate change, highlighting a normative disparity between the legal guarantees of equality under International Human Rights (IHR) law and the real environmental experiences of older persons. The document demonstrates that the legal duty to implement age-responsive climate adaptation measures is being imposed on states via existing legal obligations derived from the principles of the right to health and non-discrimination, as analysed through international treaties, General Comments, UN resolutions, and climate instruments. The failure to accept ageing in environmental governance may constitute indirect discrimination and undermine substantive equality. The study presents a rights-based environmental justice paradigm that incorporates the obligations of ageing, public health, and climate within contemporary international law.