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Environmental Law’S Extinction Problem, Akhtar-Khavari Afshin, Michelle Mei Ling Lim, Katie Woolaston

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The extinction of species and ecological systems is occurring more quickly than any other time in human history. Our social and cultural institutions and the concepts and framings that underpin them are key contributors to modern extinctions. In this paper we ask how engaging explicitly with extinction enables a critical and hopeful rethinking of environmental law. We explore the potential of this question by summarising and categorising the literature that discusses how extinction provides a useful frame and moral compass for interrogating environmental law rules, systems and ambitions. Through an evaluation of biodiversityrelated multilateral environmental agreements we illustrate the potential …