Environmental Justice and the Rights of Unborn and Future Generations


Book Description

The traditional concept of social justice is increasingly being challenged by the notion of a humankind that spans current and future generations. This book, with a foreword by Roger Brownsword, is the first systematic examination of how the rights of the unborn and future generations are handled in common law and under international legal instruments. It provides comprehensive coverage of the arguments over international legal instruments, key legal cases and examples including the Convention on the Rights of the Child, industrial disasters, clean water provision, diet, HIV/AIDS, environmental racism and climate change. Also covered are international agreements and objectives as diverse as the Kyoto Protocol, the Millennium Development Goals and international trade. The result is the most controversial and thorough examination to date of the subject and the enormous ramifications and challenges it poses to every aspect of international and domestic environmental, human rights, trade and public health law and policy.




Environmental Justice and the Rights of Unborn and Future Generations


Book Description

The traditional concept of social justice is increasingly being challenged by the notion of a humankind that spans current and future generations. This book, with a foreword by Roger Brownsword, is the first systematic examination of how the rights of the unborn and future generations are handled in common law and under international legal instruments. It provides comprehensive coverage of the arguments over international legal instruments, key legal cases and examples including the Convention on the Rights of the Child, industrial disasters, clean water provision, diet, HIV/AIDS, environmental racism and climate change. Also covered are international agreements and objectives as diverse as the Kyoto Protocol, the Millennium Development Goals and international trade. The result is the most controversial and thorough examination to date of the subject and the enormous ramifications and challenges it poses to every aspect of international and domestic environmental, human rights, trade and public health law and policy.




Environmental Justice and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples


Book Description

More than 300 million people in over 70 countries make up the worlds indigenous populations. Yet despite ever-growing pressures on their lands, environment and way of life through outside factors such as climate change and globalization, their rights in these and other respects are still not fully recognized in international law.In this incisive book, Laura Westra deftly reveals the lethal effects that damage to ecological integrity can have on communities. Using examples in national and international case law, she demonstrates how their lack of sufficient legal rights leaves indigenous peoples defenceless, time and again, in the face of governments and businesses who have little effective incentive to consult with them (let alone gain their consent) in going ahead with relocations, mining plans and more. The historical background and current legal instruments are discussed and, through examples from the Americas, Africa, Oceania and the special case of the Arctic, a picture emerges of how things must change if indigenous communities are to survive. It is a warning to us all from the example of those who live most closely in tune with nature and are the first to feel the impact when environmental damage goes unchecked.




Environmental Justice and the Rights of Ecological Refugees


Book Description

Climate change and other environmental problems are increasingly leading to the displacement of populations from their homelands, whether this be through drought, flooding, famine or other causes. Worse, there is currently no protection in international law for people made refugees by such means.




Environmental Justice and the Rights of Unborn and Future Generations


Book Description

1. The child's rights to health and the environment, and the role of the World Health Organization -- 2. The status of the preborn in civil law instruments -- 3. The status of the child and the preborn in common law instruments and cases -- 4. Supranational governance : the European Court of Human Rights and the WTO-WHO conflict -- 5. The impact of consumerism and social policy on the health of the child -- 6. Future generations' rights : linking intergenerational and intragenerational rights in ecojustice -- 7. Ecojustice and consideration for the future : the persistence of ecofootprint disasters -- 8. Ecojustice and industrial operations : irreconcilable conflict or possible coexistence? -- 9. Developmental and health rights of children in developing countries : towards a model legislation for the rights of the child to health.




The Human Right to a Green Future


Book Description

This book presents an argument for establishing environmental human rights as the legitimate possession of both present and future generations. It uses these rights - to clean air, water, and soil - to make an argument for justice across generations, that is, for recognizing the obligation that present generations have to preserve the environment and natural resources for future generations.




Future Generations and International Law


Book Description

Sustainable development requires consideration of the quality of life that future generations will be able to enjoy, and as the adjustment to sustainable lifestyles gathers momentum, the rights of future generations and our responsibility for their wellbeing is becoming a central issue. In this, the first book to address this emerging area of international law, leading experts examine the legal and theoretical frameworks for representing and safeguarding the interests of future generations in current international treaties. This unique volume will be required reading for academics and students of international environmental law and policy. Emmanuel Agius is Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Theology and Coordinator of the Future Generations Programme at the Foundation for International Studies, University of Malta. Salvino Busuttil is former Director General of the Foundation for International Studies. Future Generations and International Law is the seventh volume in the International Law and Sustainable Development series, co-developed with FIELD. The series aims to address and define the major legal issues associated with sustainable development and to contribute to the progressive development of international law. Other titles in the series are: Greening International Law, Interpreting the Precautionary Principle, Property Rights in the Defence of Nature, Improving Compliance with International Environmental Law, Greening International Institutions and Quotas in International Environmental Agreements. 'A legal parallel to the Blueprint series - welcome, timely and provocative' David Pearce Originally published in 1997







Justice to Future Generations and the Environment


Book Description

This book contributes to the discussion about obligations to future generations by arguing that a principle of justice, according to which we must share the environmental resources of the planet with future generations, must be considered to be part of the just basic structure of society. The argument is based on a close study of Rawls' theory of justice and particularly of its treatment of the future generations issue. But the author claims that the affirmation of a principle of justice towards future generations must be accompanied by the attempt to articulate the motives that shape a concern with the fate of future persons in the first place. In order to consider, and further, its real chances, we must put the perspective of justice between generations, with its very detached character, within the context of our view from the present such as it is situated in historical time. This opens a fascinating but difficult field of inquiry about inter-generational value and its different aspects. Although it is centred on the theory of justice and on general ethics, the book also pays attention to the legal issues raised by the notion of a future-oriented just basic structure of society.




Climate Change and the Voiceless


Book Description

Identifies the common vulnerabilities of the voiceless and demonstrates how the law can evolve to protect their interests more effectively.