Environmental Justice and International Environmental Law

ROUTLEDGE HANDBOOK OF INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL LAW, Shawkat Alam, Jahid Hossain Bhuiyan, Tareq M.R. Chowdhury, Erika Techera, eds., Routledge, 2013

Seattle University School of Law Research Paper No. 12-11

50 Pages Posted: 26 Feb 2012 Last revised: 14 Mar 2014

See all articles by Carmen G. Gonzalez

Carmen G. Gonzalez

Loyola University Chicago School of Law

Date Written: February 25, 2012

Abstract

Environmental justice lies at the heart of many environmental disputes between the global North and the global South as well as grassroots environmental struggles within nations. However, the discourse of international environmental law is often ahistorical and technocratic. It neither educates the North about its inordinate contribution to global environmental problems nor provides an adequate response to the concerns of nations and communities disproportionately burdened by poverty and environmental degradation. This article examines some of the root causes of environmental injustice among and within nations from the colonial period to the present, and discusses several strategies that can be used to integrate environmental justice into the broader corpus of international law so as to promote social and economic justice while protecting the planet’s natural resources for the benefit of present and future generations.

Keywords: environmental justice, sustainable development, equity, ethics, colonialism, post-colonialism, special and differential treatment, common but differentiated responsibility, ecological debt, climate change, human rights, environmental human rights, Aarhus Convention, transnational corporations

JEL Classification: K32, K33, F18, Q56

Suggested Citation

Gonzalez, Carmen G., Environmental Justice and International Environmental Law (February 25, 2012). ROUTLEDGE HANDBOOK OF INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL LAW, Shawkat Alam, Jahid Hossain Bhuiyan, Tareq M.R. Chowdhury, Erika Techera, eds., Routledge, 2013, Seattle University School of Law Research Paper No. 12-11, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2011081

Carmen G. Gonzalez (Contact Author)

Loyola University Chicago School of Law ( email )

25 E. Pearson
Chicago, IL 60611
United States

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