48. However, in addition to this factual context – i.e. the development of new infrastructure projects in the Wider Caribbean Region that could affect the rights of the inhabitants of this region – the pertinent legal context of this request must also be specified. CHAPTER 3. THE LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS GIVING RISE TO THIS REQUEST FOR AN ADVISORY OPINION 49. Nowadays it is widely recognized that the quality of the environment in which we human beings live and on which we depend constitutes a condition sine qua non for the effective enjoyment of the rights and freedoms recognized by international human rights law (Section 1). In addition, there is no doubt as regards the normative relationship between environmental law and human rights, considering that the object and purpose of the former is precisely to protect the natural surroundings in which we human beings live and develop, both individually and collectively (Section 2). In this context, the mutual need for both environmental law and human rights law has been recognized in order to ensure their full effectiveness. SECTION 1: QUALITY OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND HUMAN RIGHTS 50. The environment is “the combination of elements whose complex interrelationships make up the settings, the surroundings and the conditions of life of the individual and of society, as they are and as they are felt.” 31 Thus the physical life and a life with dignity of the individual, as well as his physical, mental and moral integrity depend on the habitat from which he derives his sustenance and in which he carries out his cultural, social and economic activities, and develops his life project. 51. The intrinsic relationship that exists between the environment, understood as habitat, and the effective enjoyment of human rights was expressly recognized in 1972 in the preamble to the Stockholm Declaration which established that the environment is essential for the well-being of man and for the full enjoyment of his fundamental rights, including the right to life itself. 32 52. The International Court of Justice, in an advisory opinion on the Legality of the threat or use of nuclear weapons, stated that: “The Court recognizes that the environment is under daily threat and that the use of nuclear weapons could constitute a catastrophe for the environment. The Court also recognizes that the environment is not an abstraction but represents the living space, the 31 D. Bodansky, The Art and Craft of International Environmental Law, Harvard University Press, 2010, p. 10. 32 Stockholm Declaration adopted by the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment: 1. Man is both creature and moulder of his environment, which gives him physical sustenance and affords him the opportunity for intellectual, moral, social and spiritual growth. […] Both aspects of man's environment, the natural and the manmade, are essential to his well-being and to the enjoyment of basic human rights, including the right to life itself.” U.N. Doc. A/Conf.48/14/Rev. 1) 60