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The North-South Divide In International Environmental Law: Framing The Issues, Carmen G. Gonzalez, Sumudu Atapattu
The North-South Divide In International Environmental Law: Framing The Issues, Carmen G. Gonzalez, Sumudu Atapattu
Carmen G. Gonzalez
The unprecedented degradation of the planet’s vital ecosystems is among the most pressing issues confronting the international community. Despite the proliferation of legal instruments to combat environmental problems, conflicts between rich and poor nations (the North-South divide) have compromised the effectiveness of international environmental law, leading to deadlocks in environmental treaty negotiations and non-compliance with existing agreements. Through contributions from scholars based in five continents, International Environmental Law and the Global South examines both the historical origins of the North-South divide in European colonialism as well as its contemporary manifestations in a range of issues, including food justice, energy justice, …
International Environmental Law And The Global South, Carmen G. Gonzalez
International Environmental Law And The Global South, Carmen G. Gonzalez
Carmen G. Gonzalez
The unprecedented degradation of the planet’s vital ecosystems is among the most pressing issues confronting the international community. Despite the proliferation of legal instruments to combat environmental problems, conflicts between rich and poor nations (the North-South divide) have compromised the effectiveness of international environmental law, leading to deadlocks in environmental treaty negotiations and non-compliance with existing agreements. Through contributions from scholars based in five continents, International Environmental Law and the Global South examines both the historical origins of the North-South divide in European colonialism as well as its contemporary manifestations in a range of issues, including food justice, energy justice, …
Environmental Justice, Human Rights, And The Global South, Carmen G. Gonzalez
Environmental Justice, Human Rights, And The Global South, Carmen G. Gonzalez
Carmen G. Gonzalez
From the Ogoni people devastated by oil drilling in Nigeria to the Inuit and other indigenous populations threatened by climate change, communities disparately burdened by environmental degradation are increasingly framing their demands for environmental justice in the language of environmental human rights. Domestic and international tribunals have concluded that failure to protect the environment violates a variety of human rights (including the rights to life, health, food, water, property, and privacy; the collective rights of indigenous peoples to their ancestral lands and resources; and the right to a healthy environment). Some scholars have questioned the utility of the human rights …
Energy Poverty And The Environment, Carmen G. Gonzalez
Energy Poverty And The Environment, Carmen G. Gonzalez
Carmen G. Gonzalez
Nearly 3 billion people in Asia, Africa, and Latin America (the Energy Poor) face daily hardships due to lack of modern energy for cooking, heating, sanitation, lighting, transportation, and basic mechanical power. Despite their minimal greenhouse gas emissions, the Energy Poor will be disproportionately burdened by the floods, droughts, rising sea levels, and other disturbances caused by climate change. Although climate change has been framed as an issue of climate debt and climate justice, the plight of the Energy Poor has received short shrift in the climate change negotiations. Will efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions consign the Energy Poor …
Bridging The North-South Divide: International Environmental Law In The Anthropocene, Carmen G. Gonzalez
Bridging The North-South Divide: International Environmental Law In The Anthropocene, Carmen G. Gonzalez
Carmen G. Gonzalez
The failure of international law and institutions to address global environmental degradation has significant implications for law and society as the planet’s ecosystems approach irreversible tipping points. According to a recent study published in the journal Science, the global economy has transgressed four of the nine “planetary boundaries” critical to the planet’s self-regulating capacity. Climate change, deforestation, species extinction, and the runoff of phosphorus and nitrogen into regional watersheds and oceans have exceeded safe biophysical thresholds. Scientists refer to the current geologic era of human-induced environmental change as the Anthropocene. These environmental problems are inextricably intertwined with patterns of trade, …