The legal protection of the right to live in a healthy and ecologically balanced environment in the Republic of Ecuador

Abstract

The right to live in a healthy and ecologically balanced environment is treated in this study in its close connection with the rights of nature, since until the human species is made aware that life is only possible in harmony and respect for natural resources, the present and the future of future generations are at risk. A reflective and critical essay has been carried out that focused on the legal protection of the right to live in a healthy and ecologically balanced environment, with special emphasis on Ecuador, contrasting the theoretical-normative order with reality in the face of the challenges posed. the current social, economic and political context. Among the results, it is recognized that, although the Ecuadorian Constitution provides for a holistic ecological protection superior to the anthropocentric protection of the environment, this has not prevented the national practice from being characterized by an extraction activity with unfortunate environmental results. Despite the fact that the right to a healthy and ecologically balanced environment has been recognized as a human right and that Environmental Law regulates it in its configuration, its defense is urgently necessary based on the empowerment of the subjects and social actors around it. to nature as a subject of law.