From Fiduciary States to Joint Trusteeship of the Atmosphere: The Right to a Healthy Environment Through a Fiduciary Prism
Evan Fox-Decent, From Fiduciary States to Joint Trusteeship of the Atmosphere: The Right to a Healthy Environment Through a Fiduciary Prism, in FIDUCIARY DUTY AND THE ATMOSPHERIC TRUST 253 (Ken Coghill, Charles Sampford & Tim Smith eds., 2012).
23 Pages Posted: 28 Oct 2010 Last revised: 21 Sep 2017
Date Written: December 15, 2010
Abstract
This Article contends that a fiduciary theory of public authority yields a human right to a healthy environment. Under the fiduciary theory, states owe extra-territorial non-citizens a legal duty to protect the earth’s atmosphere, a duty that is correlative to every person’s human right to a healthy environment. An implication of the fiduciary model is that states stand in the position of joint fiduciaries vis-à-vis humanity at large. The subject matter of the joint fiduciary relationship is the earth’s atmosphere.
Keywords: Environment, Fiduciary, Global Warming, Climate Change, Human Rights
JEL Classification: K32, Q32, H41, K33
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation