AN APPROACH TO THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ENVIRONMENT AND HUMAN RIGHTS. BRAZILIAN AND COLOMBIAN CASES*

This article exposes and studies, through a comparative law methodology, the way in which current constitutional law in Brazil and Colombia recognizes a relationship between the environment and human rights. In this way, being a research result, the reader will find, firstly, a presentation of the most significant features of the so-called New Latin American Constitutionalism that are related to the recognition and protection of the environment; then analyzes, specifically, the precepts that make up the "Ecological Constitutions" of Brazil and Colombia. Finally, before pointing out the conclusions, we address the discussion on the theory of the connection between the environment and human rights and the way in which it has been used in both jurisdictions, Brazil and Colombia, as an effective strategy for the direct protection of the environment, while eliminating doubts about its fundamental nature.