Vulnerabilidad, Crisis Ambiental y Derechos Humanos

This paper examines the concept of human vulnerability within the context of the current environmental crisis, with particular attention to older adults as one of the population groups most exposed to the differentiated effects of climate change and extreme events. The study adopts a multidimensional understanding of vulnerability, in which natural and social phenomena are closely interconnected, so that environmental risks cannot be separated from socioeconomic, political, cultural, and institutional factors that shape the unequal distribution of impacts across society. From a qualitative and documentary perspective, the analysis is based on the systematization and interpretation of normative frameworks applicable to the human rights of older persons, incorporating dogmatic and systemic-structural methods of legal analysis. In this context, vulnerability is understood as being configured through dimensions such as exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity, which acquire particular relevance in aging processes marked by inequality, poverty, exclusion, and limitations in support networks. Furthermore, the environmental crisis is highlighted as a central challenge to the effective guarantee of fundamental rights, including the right to a healthy environment, health, adequate housing, accessibility, and non-discrimination. Consequently, the study emphasizes the need to strengthen comprehensive public policies, differentiated civil protection protocols, and accessible mechanisms for rights enforcement, guided by principles of dignity, social justice, and inclusion. The paper concludes that reducing the vulnerability of older adults in the face of environmental crisis requires structural transformations that articulate sustainability, human rights, and intersectional approaches to protection.