Abstract
In order to draw any conclusion about what actions should be done, practical arguments require both a first premise which makes factual claims about the world and a second premise which asserts a value claim. This paper argues that among the second premise value claims available in environmental advocacy, a human rights approach includes distinct advantages that are not as available when relying only on other ethical approaches. The paper describes three practical measures that can be used in environmental human rights work—personal narratives, human rights assessment reports, and citizen-based inquiries and tribunals—and 10 practical advantages of using those and other human rights measures. These include helping to minimize the problem of moral relativism, appeals to compassion and reduction of ethical “slippage,” as well as thinking from the bottom up, access to a rhetorically persuasive vocabulary, and potentially useful legal advantages.
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Notes
Article 26 of the Convention on Civil and Political Rights reads: “All persons are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection of the law. In this respect, the law shall prohibit any discrimination and guarantee to all persons equal and effective protection against discrimination on any ground…”
The basic principles of environmental justice (a human rights standard that has acquired particular saliency in the environmental movement) require that those communities that are disadvantaged in any way—socially, economically, as a result of discriminatory racial policies, etc., or who simply have less ready access to social and economic resources—be accorded the same degree of respect, fair treatment and opportunity for meaningful involvement in decision-making as communities that are more socially or economically advantaged and have greater access to resources. As explained on the Environmental Protection Agency website, “Fair treatment means that no group of people, including racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic groups, should bear a disproportionate share of…negative environmental consequences” (http://www.epa.gov/region1/ej/; accessed 24 May 2013).
“Environmental organizations have grown in strength and sophistication, but the environment has continued to go downhill, to the point that the prospect of a ruined planet is now very real.” Speth, James G, Rachel's Democracy & Health News October 23, 2008. http://www.precaution.org/lib/08/prn_dhn081023.htm. Accessed 24 May 2013.
Gratis.
For a short description of inquiries, see http://environmentandhumanrightscourse.info/lecsite/CitsInquiry.html.
http://www.peoplesinquiry.co.nz/index.php. Accessed 24 May 2012
For a short description of tribunals, see http://environmentandhumanrightscourse.info/lecsite/CitsTribunal.html
http://www.agricorporateaccountability.net/. Accessed 24 May 2012
For an analysis of how Arthur Schopenhauer’s ethic of compassion plays into this human rights approach, see my paper, “Schopenhauer's Mitleid, Environmental Outrage and Human Rights” (in press, available on request).
UDHR, article 5
This survey found that “the American public accepts a human rights framework for social justice issues in the USA”.
http://environmentandhumanrights.org/resources/HumanRightsToolkit.pdf. Accessed 20 July 2012.
“One of the most important successes of international human rights law is that it has given victims direct access to international human rights fora. Thus, in international human rights law, individuals are subjects of law and can legally claim against human rights abuses perpetrated by states.” (Picolotti and Taillant 2003).
Ibid. p 133.
“That is… the facts reported in the petition shall be presumed to be true if, during the maximum period set by the Commission, the government of the State in question has not provided pertinent information to the contrary.... If the State denies the evidence, it must specifically prove that the evidence is not valid.” Ibid.
References
Bonhoeffer D (1953) Letters and papers from prison (Kindle Locations 353–355), 1997, Simon & Schuster, Inc. Kindle Edition
Holding CP (2012) Could summer's devastation provoke environmental action? Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carol-pierson-holding/climate-change-action_b_1681200.html. Accessed 19 July 2012.
Morsink J (1999) The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: origins, drafting and intent. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, p 33
Picolotti R, Taillant JD (2003) Linking human rights and the environment. University of Arizona Press, Arizona, p 120
Russonello Belden & Stewart (2007) Human Rights in the US: opinion research with advocates, journalists, and the general public. http://environmentandhumanrights.org/resources/public%20opinion%20research%20on%20HR%208-07%20exec%20summ.pdf. Accessed 20 July 2012.
Speth JG (2008) Rachel's democracy & health news. http://www.precaution.org/lib/08/prn_dhn081023.htm. Accessed 24 May 2013).
Acknowledgments
Special thanks to Kathleen Dean Moore for substantive and stylistic suggestions and for much appreciated encouragement.
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This paper argues that including a human rights dimension in environmental advocacy brings distinct practical advantages that are not as available when relying only on other ethical approaches. The paper describes three practical measures used in environmental human rights work and 10 practical advantages of using those measures.
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Kerns, T. Ten practical advantages of a human rights approach to environmental advocacy. J Environ Stud Sci 3, 416–420 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13412-013-0143-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13412-013-0143-y