O direito à água e ao meio ambiente ecologicamente equilibrado na ordem constitucional brasileira

Abstract

The Constitution of 1988 was the key milestone for the process of institutionalization, not only of the environment, but of all other human and ecological rights in the country. Its text raised the dignity of the human person to a fundamental principle, by which the Federative Republic of Brazil should be governed in the international and national scene. In the same way, following the tendency of contemporary constitutionalism of hierarchical equality of the Treaties for the protection of Human Rights to constitutional norms, it has opened a great step towards the opening of the Brazilian legal system to the International System for the protection of Human Rights. In this sense, the text of the Constitution of 1988 deserves a detailed analysis, due to the numerous environmental protection instruments inscribed in it, given that, in this context, the sense of ecological balance must be addressed to the human being, considering the principle inserted in article 1º, item III, of the Federal Constitution. Having been inspired by the Stockholm Declaration (1972) and other important constitutional texts such as Portugal and Spain, the Constitution of 1988 warned of the need for general awareness about the issue. From the reading of its devices it becomes clear that environmental preservation is an indeclinable condition for a dignified life and is also a fundamental value of society. This fact represents a significant advance for the recognition of the environment and water as a Fundamental Right.