Environmental Law as a Pillar of ESCR and Sustainability in Peru and Latin America

Velasco M.C.C.; Medrano Garcia Z.M.K. · Revista Derecho del Estado (2026) · DOI: 10.18601/01229893.n65.12

Resumen

This article examines the role of environmental law as a structural component for the effective realization of economic, social, cultural, and environmental rights (ESCR) in Peru and Latin America. Based on a conceptual review, it analyzes how a healthy environment constitutes a necessary condition for the exercise of rights such as health, water, food, and housing. The study then incorporates the contemporary framework of sustainability and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), highlighting their legal value and their function as a global tool to assess public policies, identify gaps, and guide institutional decision-making. Through recent studies and regional data on access to drinking water, socio-environmental inequality, and ecological degradation, it demonstrates that the effective enjoyment of ESCR depends on ecosystem integrity and on the State's capacity to adopt preventive measures, ensure public participation, and guarantee environmental justice. Comparative analysis of constitutional courts, socio-environmental transitions, and extractive dynamics shows that sustainability must be understood as a central principle linking environmental protection with the enforceability of ESCR. The article concludes that strengthening environmental law is essential to advance toward fair, equitable, and ecologically compatible development models.

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cusco; Universidad Continental