James R. May - Böcker

Reflecting a global trend, scores of countries have affirmed that their citizens are entitled to healthy air, water and land, and that their constitution should guarantee certain environmental rights. This book examines the increasing recognition that the environment is a proper subject for protection in constitutional texts and for vindication by constitutional courts. This phenomenon, which the authors call environmental constitutionalism, represents the confluence of constitutional law, international law, human rights and environmental law. National apex and constitutional courts are exhibiting a growing interest in environmental rights, and as courts become more aware of what their peers are doing, this momentum is likely to increase. This book explains why such provisions came into being, how they are expressed, and the extent to which they have been, and might be, enforced judicially. It is a singular resource for evaluating the content of and hope for constitutional environmental rights.

Constitutions can play a central role in responding to environmental challenges, such as pollution, biodiversity loss, lack of drinking water, and climate change. The vast majority of people on earth live under constitutional systems that protect the environment or recognize environmental rights. Such environmental constitutionalism, however, falls short without effective implementation by policymakers, advocates and jurists. Implementing Environmental Constitutionalism: Current Global Challenges explains and explores this 'implementation gap'. This collection is both broad and deep. While some of the essays analyze crosscutting themes, such as climate change and the need for rule of law that affect the implementation of environmental constitutionalism throughout the world, others delve deeply into geographically contextual experiences for lessons about how constitutional environmental law might be more effectively implemented. This volume informs global conversations about whether and how environmental constitutionalism can be made more effective to protect the natural environment.

Environmental rights, also known as the human rights or constitutional rights that are used for the protection of the environment, have proliferated over the last forty-five years. However, the precise levels of protection that they represent has since been a major question associated with this phenomenon. Environmental Rights: The Development of Standards systematically investigates this question by analyzing the emerging standards of environmental protection that are associated with such rights and the way that those associations are becoming formalized. It covers all of the relevant human rights treaties to illustrate how environmental rights standards are emerging in this dynamic area. Bringing together an elite group of scholars, this book discusses significant new insights into the way that environmental rights are developing, the standards of protection that they confer, and the way that standards in the field of environmental rights can potentially be further developed in the future.

Environmental rights, also known as the human rights or constitutional rights that are used for the protection of the environment, have proliferated over the last forty-five years. However, the precise levels of protection that they represent has since been a major question associated with this phenomenon. Environmental Rights: The Development of Standards systematically investigates this question by analyzing the emerging standards of environmental protection that are associated with such rights and the way that those associations are becoming formalized. It covers all of the relevant human rights treaties to illustrate how environmental rights standards are emerging in this dynamic area. Bringing together an elite group of scholars, this book discusses significant new insights into the way that environmental rights are developing, the standards of protection that they confer, and the way that standards in the field of environmental rights can potentially be further developed in the future.

Human rights and environmental protection are closely intertwined, and both are critically dependent on supportive legal opportunity structures. These legal structures consist of access to the courts; 'legal stock' or the set of available standards and precedents on which to base litigation; and institutional receptiveness to potential litigation. These elements all depend on a variety of social, political, and economic variables. This book critically analyses the complexities of uniting human rights advocacy and environmental protection. Bringing together international experts in the field, it documents the current state of our environmental human rights knowledge, strategically critical questions that remain unanswered, and the initiatives required to develop those answers. It is ideal for researchers in environmental governance and law, as well as interested practitioners and advanced students working in public policy, political science and environmental studies.

Reflecting a global trend, scores of countries have affirmed that their citizens are entitled to healthy air, water and land, and that their constitution should guarantee certain environmental rights. This book examines the increasing recognition that the environment is a proper subject for protection in constitutional texts and for vindication by constitutional courts. This phenomenon, which the authors call environmental constitutionalism, represents the confluence of constitutional law, international law, human rights and environmental law. National apex and constitutional courts are exhibiting a growing interest in environmental rights, and as courts become more aware of what their peers are doing, this momentum is likely to increase. This book explains why such provisions came into being, how they are expressed, and the extent to which they have been, and might be, enforced judicially. It is a singular resource for evaluating the content of and hope for constitutional environmental rights.

The rapid growth of shale gas development has led to an intense and polarizing debate about its merit. This book asks and suggests answers to the question that has not yet been systematically analysed: what laws and policies are needed to ensure that shale gas development helps to accelerate the transition to sustainability?In this groundbreaking book, more than a dozen experts in policy and academia assess the role that sustainability plays in decisions concerning shale gas development in the US and elsewhere, offering legal and policy recommendations for developing shale gas in a manner that accelerates the transition to sustainability. Contributors assess good practices from Pennsylvania to around the planet, discussing how these lessons translate to other jurisdictions. Ultimately, the book concludes that major changes in law and policy are needed to develop shale gas sustainably.Policymakers and educators alike will find this book to be a valuable resource, as it tackles the technical, social, economic and legal aspects associated with this sustainability issue. Other strengths are its clear language and middle-ground policy perspective that will make Shale Gas and the Future of Energy accessible to both students and the general public.Contributors: D.A. Brown, T. Daya-Winterbottom, J. Glazewski, B.D. Goldstein, P. Ko, B. Kolb, K.T. Kristl, J.A. 'Skip' Laitner, J. McElfish, J. Morgan, J.H. Quigley, P. Salkin, D.B. Spence, D. Stares, J. Ubinger, Jr., J. Williamson

'James R. May and Erin Daly, household names in global environmental constitutionalism, have produced a magnum opus on human rights and the environment. An encyclopedia studded with precious research, analysis and wisdom from eminent voices from all over the world. The timing of the publication is auspicious. It coincides with the first ever Report of the UN Secretary General on International Environmental Law towards a Global Pact for the Environment. The encyclopedia is a must have for all students and scholars of human dignity and sustainable development, and particularly for those that will, hopefully, craft the Global Pact for the Environment into hard law on the model of the International Covenants on Human Rights.'- Parvez Hassan, IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law and Pakistan Environmental Law Association'Is the Environment about the birds and the bees, the flowers and the trees? Or is It about the vital organs of Life on Earth - the Land, Air, and Waters? (LAW). This marvelous work by James R. May and Erin Daly, and the contributors, world champions of the human right to Life and to the Sources of Life, could not be more timely. When we finally understand that the Environment is Life itself, then we will truly care for the LAW of Life that Human Rights and the Environment envelops.'- Antonio Oposa, Jr., Litigator, Educator, Organizer and Activist Much has been written, discussed, advocated and litigated about human rights and the environment over the last two decades. With 45 structured entries from a global collection of expert scholars, this volume of the Elgar Encyclopedia of Environmental Law provides an authoritative source of reference and features new commentary on the role of the rule of law in responding to the variegated impacts of environmental challenges on the human condition.This comprehensive volume offers fresh perspectives to the conversation by focusing especially on four subjects that shed new light on the subject of environmental human rights: the challenges of identifying the fundamental legal sources for the protection of human rights and the environment, the recognition of the indivisibility of human rights and environmental law, the centrality of the right to human dignity as the lodestar of human rights law, and the uniqueness of geographic particularities. Fundamentally, the entries demonstrate that there is much to do, learn and share on this vital topic.Offering thoughtful critical perspectives on a timely subject, this volume will be an essential resource for academics and students, as well as policymakers and practitioners.Contributors include: S. Adelman, N. Ahuja, C. Anant Malviya, A. Awal Khan, L. Benjamin, D. Bonilla Maldonado, R. Bratspies, C. Bruch, M. Burger, C. Butler, A. Carlson, C. Cournil, P. Coventry, E. Daly, K. Davies, R. Dhingra, R.J. Donato Quan, E. Gebre, C. Guneratne, A.M. Hammadeen, B. Hudson, C. Iorns Magallanes, V. Karageorgou, A. Kariuki, A. Kenmogne Simo, J.H. Knox, G.J. Kounga, A. Kreilhuber, S. Lamdan, R. Libel Waldman, K.E. Makuch, S.-J.-T. Manga, P. Martin, J.R. May, A. Mboya, S.O. McKenzie, M.A. Mekouar, D. Misiedjan, E. Mrema, R. Mwanza, D.S. Olawuyi, N. Osborne, O.W. Pedersen, J. Pendergrass, M.-C. Petersmann, M. Prieur, S.R. Rajan, L. Reins, J.M. Rivero Godoy, D.N. Scott, A. Solntsev, M. Stevenson, D.B. Suagee, A. Thomas, S.J. Turner, G. Van Hoorick, L. Vandenhende, J. Wentz, W. Yun Santoso

Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences and law, expertly written by the world's leading scholars. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject areas.This thought-provoking introduction provides an incisive overview of dignity law, a field of law emerging in every region of the globe that touches all significant aspects of the human experience. Through an examination of the burgeoning case law in this area, James R. May and Erin Daly reveal a strong overlapping consensus surrounding the meaning of human dignity as a legal right and a fundamental value of nations large and small, and how this global jurisprudence is redefining the relationship between individuals and the state.Key features include:Analyses of cases from a range of jurisdictions all over the worldA history of the shift of the concept of dignity from a philosophical idea to a legally enforceable rightDiscussion of dignity as a value and a right in different major legal contexts, and its roots in African, Asian, European and Islamic traditions.This Advanced Introduction will be invaluable to scholars and students of law, particularly those interested in human rights, looking to understand this emerging area of law. It will inform lawyers, judges, policymakers and other advocates interested in how dignity and the law can be used to protect everyone, including the most vulnerable among us.