The Right to a Healthy Environment


Book Description

Canada has abundant natural wealth -- beautiful landscapes, vast forests, and thousands of rivers and lakes. The land defines Canadians as a people, yet the country has one of the worst environmental records in the industrialized world. Building on his previous book, The Environmental Rights Revolution (2012), David R. Boyd, one of Canada’s leading environmental lawyers, describes how recognizing the constitutional right to a healthy environment could have a transformative impact by empowering citizens, holding governments and industry accountable, and improving Canada’s green record. The overwhelming majority of the world’s nations now recognize environmental rights through laws, constitutions, treaties, or court decisions. Boyd explores Canada’s history of failed efforts to do the same within this international context and offers three pathways to constitutional recognition of the right to a healthy environment. This important and provocative book provides a blueprint for renewed leadership in protecting human health, the well-being of the planet, and the interests of future generations.




The Impact of the Inter-American Human Rights System


Book Description

This interdisciplinary volume brings together leading scholars in international and constitutional law, social sciences, and international relations to present a systematic as well as critical analysis of the impact of the Inter-American System of Human Rights and the legal mechanisms that allow for that impact.




The Inter-American System of Human Rights


Book Description

This book, which can be used as a text for teaching purposes, gives a fascinating, and authoritative treatment both the rights protected by the Inter-American system and of the way in which its institutions work. An important part of the book is a thorough, article by article account of the guarantee in the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man and in the American Convention on Human Rights of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights in the light of the jurisprudence of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and of the Commission's many country reports on the human rights situation in particular states. There are also chapters on the rights of indigenous peoples, amnesty laws and states of emergencies. The evolution and current methods of work of the Commission and the Court are set out at length and their achievements are critically assessed. The role of non-governmental organisations is also examined in this context. The book will be invaluable to all those interested in the protection of human rights in the Americas and international human rights law generally.




The Human Right to a Healthy Environment


Book Description

This book considers and clarifies many different facets of the international human right to a healthy environment.




Indigenous Land Rights in the Inter-American System


Book Description

Rights to their traditional lands and resources are essential to the survival of indigenous peoples. This book analyzes the substance and procedure of the most advanced system of safeguarding these rights, developed in the Inter-American system of human rights protection.




Draft International Covenant on Environment and Development


Book Description

This is an updated edition of the 1995 version. In the mid-1980's, the IUCN CEL, in consultation with leading experts from around the world, began to respond to a need later identified by Agenda 21: the preparation of an integrated framework for international environmental law.




Indigenous Peoples and Climate Justice


Book Description

​This book provides a new interpretation of international law specifically dedicated to Indigenous peoples in the context of a climate justice approach. The book presents a critical analysis of past and current developments at the intersection of human rights and international environmental law and governance. The book suggests new ways forward and demonstrates the need for a paradigmatic shift that would enhance the meaningful participation of Indigenous peoples as fundamental actors in the conservation of biodiversity and in the fight against climate change. The book offers guidance on a number of critical intersecting and interdependent issues at the forefront of climate change law and policy – inside and outside of the UN climate change regime. The author suggests that the adoption of a critical perspective on international law is needed in order to highlight inherent structural and systemic issues of the international law regime which are all issues that ultimately impede the pursue of climate justice for Indigenous peoples.




Human Rights and the Environment


Book Description

The field of human rights and the environment has grown phenomenally during the last few years and this textbook will be one of the first to encourage students to think critically about how many environmental issues lead to a violation of existing rights. Taking a socio-legal approach, this book will provide a good understanding of both human rights and environmental issues, as well as the limitations of each regime, and will explore the ways in which human rights law and institutions can be used to obtain relief for the victims of environmental degradation or of adverse effects of environmental policies. In addition, it will place an emphasis on climate change and climate policies to highlight the pros and cons of using a human rights framework and to underscore its importance in the context of climate change. As well as identifying emerging issues and areas for further research, each chapter will be rich in pedagogical features, including web links to further research and discussion questions for beyond the classroom. Combining their specialisms in law and politics, Atapattu and Schapper have developed a truly inter-disciplinary resource that will be essential for students of human rights, environmental studies, international law, international relations, politics, and philosophy.




When Environmental Protection and Human Rights Collide


Book Description

The book illuminates the nature, extent, and political implications of normative conflicts between environmental protection laws and human rights.




Environmental Law Dimensions of Human Rights


Book Description

How can we guarantee a right to life or a right to health without also guaranteeing a decent environment in which to exercise these rights? It is becoming increasingly obvious that a high quality environment is key to the fundamental human rights of life and health, and associated rights such as the right to clean water, adequate housing, and food. This book canvasses a range of law and policy issues concerning human rights and the environment. Each chapter examines an aspect of the links between environmental law and human rights in substantive and/or procedural terms, loosely falling into four themes: human rights and the environment in the context of the private sector; analysis of decisions of the European and Inter-American courts in respect of substantive and procedural aspects; human rights and the environment in the Asian region, including the issue of human displacement; and the future direction of human rights and environment law.