Environmental Justice and the Rights of Ecological Refugees

Environmental Justice and the Rights of Ecological Refugees
Author: Laura Westra
Publisher: Earthscan
Total Pages: 321
Release: 2009-09-02
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1849770085

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 Ecological Refugees

Environmental Justice and the Rights of Ecological Refugees
Author: Laura Westra
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 322
Release: 2009-09-02
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1136574492

Climate change and other environmental problems are increasingly leading to the displacement of populations from their homelands, whether through drought, flooding, famine or other causes. Worse, there is currently no protection in international law for people made refugees by such means. Following on from her previous explorations of environmental justice as it relates to future generations and indigenous peoples, Laura Westra now turns her attention to the plight of ecological refugees. In Part I, Westra provides an overview of what defines an ecological refugee and their present legal status. Part II goes into greater depth as to who the vulnerable are and what protection they have in international law. Part III looks to the future, advocating a comprehensive approach to the problem. With extensive examples and analysis, this is a compelling treatment that will be indispensable for legal professionals, government and business leaders, academics and students of the role of law in the protection of the rights of refugees.

Climate Justice

Climate Justice
Author: Randall Abate
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2016
Genre: Climate change mitigation
ISBN: 9781585761814

Softbound - New, softbound print book.

Climate Change, Migration and Human Rights

Climate Change, Migration and Human Rights
Author: Dimitra Manou
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 278
Release: 2017-05-12
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1317222334

Climate Change already having serious impacts on the lives of millions of people across the world. These impacts are not only ecological, but also social, economic and legal. Among the most significant of such impacts is climate change-induced migration. The implications of this on human rights raise pressing questions, which require serious scholarly reflection. Drawing together experts in this field, Climate Change, Migration and Human Rights offers a fresh perspective on human rights law and policy issues in the climate change regime by examining the interrelationships between various aspects of human rights, climate change and migration. Three key themes are explored: understanding the concepts of human dignity, human rights and human security; the theoretical nexus between human rights, climate change and migration or displacement; and the practical implications and challenges for lawyers and policy-makers of protecting human dignity in the face of climate change and displacement. The book also includes a series of case studies from Alaska, Bangladesh, Kenya and the Pacific islands which aim to improve our understanding of the theoretical and practical implications of climate change for human rights and migration. This book will be of great interest to scholars of environmental law and policy, human rights law, climate change, and migration and refugee studies.

Climate Refugees

Climate Refugees
Author: Simon Behrman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 397
Release: 2022-03-17
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1108830722

A discussion of cutting-edge developments in policy on climate change and forced displacement from leading academics and practitioners.

Human Rights

Human Rights
Author: Laura Westra
Publisher: UBC Press
Total Pages: 394
Release: 2011-11-01
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0774821205

International law has evolved to protect human rights. But what are human rights? Does the term have the same meaning in a world being transformed by climate change and globalized trade? Are existing laws sufficient to ensure humanity’s survival? Drawing on case law and practice and examples from philosophy, law, and ecology, Laura Westra argues that the current system is not adequate: international law privileges individual over collective rights, permitting multinational corporations to overlook the collectivity and the environment in their quest for wealth and power. Unless policy makers redefine human rights and reformulate environmental law and policies to protect the preconditions for life itself -- water, food, clean air, and biodiversity -- humankind faces the complete loss of the ecological commons, the preservation of which is one of our most basic human rights. A new kind of cosmopolitanism, one centred on the United Nations, offers the best hope for preserving our common heritage and the survival of future generations.

The Cambridge Handbook of Environmental Justice and Sustainable Development

The Cambridge Handbook of Environmental Justice and Sustainable Development
Author: Sumudu A. Atapattu
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 825
Release: 2021-04-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1108574483

Despite the global endorsement of the Sustainable Development Goals, environmental justice struggles are growing all over the world. These struggles are not isolated injustices, but symptoms of interlocking forms of oppression that privilege the few while inflicting misery on the many and threatening ecological collapse. This handbook offers critical perspectives on the multi-dimensional, intersectional nature of environmental injustice and the cross-cutting forms of oppression that unite and divide these struggles, including gender, race, poverty, and indigeneity. The work sheds new light on the often-neglected social dimension of sustainability and its relationship to human rights and environmental justice. Using a variety of legal frameworks and case studies from around the world, this volume illustrates the importance of overcoming the fragmentation of these legal frameworks and social movements in order to develop holistic solutions that promote justice and protect the planet's ecosystems at a time of intensifying economic and ecological crisis.

Environmental Justice and the Rights of Unborn and Future Generations

Environmental Justice and the Rights of Unborn and Future Generations
Author: Laura Westra
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 346
Release: 2012-05-04
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 1136566791

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.

The Supranational Corporation

The Supranational Corporation
Author: Laura Westra
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 219
Release: 2013-05-16
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 900425272X

The growth of corporate power has kept pace with and even exceeded the rapid rise of globalization in the past two decades. With it has come the weakening of a nation’s ability to hold corporate power in check, and the increasing inability of states to protect the rights of individuals within their national boundaries as a result of the growing number of international legal instruments. This work lays bare corporate actions both domestic and international, under the guise of legal "personhood," and shows how corporations flaunt laws and act as controlling powers beyond the constraints imposed on legal state citizens. Corporations are now “embedded” within domestic legal regimes and insinuate themselves to subvert the very systems designed to restrain corporate power and protect the public weal. Using international vehicles like the WTO and NAFTA, corporate collective power effectively supersedes the constitutional mandate of nation states.

Climate Change and Environmental Ethics

Climate Change and Environmental Ethics
Author: Ved P. Nanda
Publisher: Transaction Publishers
Total Pages: 291
Release: 2012-09-30
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1412844347

There is a broad consensus that climate change presents the international community with a formidable challenge. Yet progress on all fronts—prevention, mitigation, and adaptation—has been slow. Ved P. Nanda finds an explanation for this disparity in the sharp divide between the developed and developing countries. Developing countries demand that major industrialized nations provide the necessary resources and technology to address climate change, while many developed countries seek firm commitments and timetables on action from the developing countries. The result is a stalemate. Climate Change and Environmental Ethics contains first-rate research and thinking from scholars from multiple disciplines—ethics, ecology, philosophy, economics, political science, history, and international law. What distinguishes this volume from recent work on climate change are two of its special features. One is the multi-disciplinary backgrounds of the scholars, their stellar experiences, and the wisdom with which they express not simply their philosophy and theory but also their suggestions for concrete, specific action in practical terms. The second is the special niche this volume fills in its overarching theme of the need for a renewed environmental ethic that can bring together these disparate but interconnected views. This volume explores alternative ways of conceiving our relation to the natural world. A spirit of international cooperation and collaboration is needed to meet the challenge. The reader is compelled to think anew about our understanding of the scientific and technical issues, as well as our values and ethical responsibilities regarding climate change.