environment of a quality that permits a life of dignity and well-being, [...].” 37 58. Owing to the connectivity between the quality of the environment and the effective enjoyment of human rights, at the present time it is widely recognized that States have the obligation to protect against environmental harm that interferes with the enjoyment of those rights. 38 59. In this regard, the case law of the Inter-American Court has stressed that the human rights recognized in the Pact of San José include an environmental dimension when the degradation of the environment affects the true enjoyment of those rights 39 - which supposes that the State has an obligation to protect the environment. This obligation has been recognized in relation to the indigenous and tribal peoples – who, among others, live in the coastal areas of the Caribbean Sea – because such peoples are particularly vulnerable to changes in their environment. Based on this State obligation to provide protection against harm to the environment, the Commission, for example, has recommended the States it is monitoring to adopt the necessary measures to protect the habitat of the communities affected by environmental damage, in order to ensure the exercise and enjoyment of their fundamental rights. 40 60. In addition, it should be pointed out that the Commission has stressed that the development of the States must be sustainable and that this calls for an adequate protection of the environment. 41 In the words of the Commission: “The norms of the inter-American human rights system neither prevent nor discourage development; rather, they require that development take place under conditions that respect and ensure the human rights of the individuals affected. As set forth in the Declaration of Principles of the Summit of the Americas: “Social progress and economic prosperity can be sustained only if our people live in a healthy environment and our ecosystems and natural resources are managed carefully and responsibly.” 42 61. The relevance of environmental law in relation to the protection of the human habitat and, 37 Stockholm Declaration on the Human Environment, in the Report on the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment. UN Doc. A/CONF.48/14/2 and Corr.1 (1972). 38 General Assembly of the United Nations, Human Rights Council, Report of the Independent Expert on the issue of the human rights obligations related to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment, John H. Knox, A/HRC/25/53, 30 December 2013, para. 44 39 ICourtHR, Case of the Mayagna (Sumo) Awas Tigni Community v. Nicaragua (2001); ICourtHR, Case of the Yakye Axa Community of the Enxet-Lengua People v. Paraguay (2005); ICourtHR, Case of the Sawhoyamaxa Community v. Paraguay (2006); ICourtHR, Case of Claude Reyes et al. v. Chile (2006); ICourtHR, Case of the Saramaka People v. Suriname (2007); ICourtHR, Case of the Xakmok Kasek Indigenous Community. v. Paraguay (2010); ICourtHR, Case of the Kichwa Indigenous People of Sarayaku v. Ecuador (2012); ICourtHR, Case of the Afrodescendant Communities displaced from the Cacarica River Basin (Operation Genesis) v. Colombia (2013). 40 See, for example, IACHR, Third report on the situation of human rights in Paraguay, OEA/Ser.L/V/11.110, Doc. 52, March 9, 2001 41 D. Shelton, “Derechos ambientales y obligaciones en el sistema interamericano de derechos humanos,” Anuario de Derechos Humanos, 2010, p. 118. 42 IACHR, Report on the situation of human rights in Ecuador. Doc. OEA/Ser.L/V/11.96, Doc. 10 rev.1, April 24, 1997, para. 204. 60