Environmental Justice in Latin America and the Caribbean

Abstract

This chapter deals with environmental justice in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), offering a holistic perspective which incorporates the various dimensions of environmental justice comprising different forums in which it takes place. In this vein, the chapter analyzes the theoretical foundations and approaches to environmental justice in LAC, emphasizing its transnational environmental law underpinnings. This analysis takes the international human rights dimension into consideration, particularly the practice of the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR) and the litigation before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR). In the formulation of the theoretical framework, the author contends that environmental justice in LAC has evolved toward a transnational environmental law model for three main reasons. First, in the region there are bottom-up approaches to environmental justice articulated through various channels for the participation of civil society, ranging from public participation in environmental decision-making to law-making, such as the submission of amicus curiae and the participation of stakeholders in public hearings. Second, through its judicial activism, the IACtHR has integrated norms created outside state or government formal channels, such as indigenous law relating to land rights, indigenous cosmovision, and compensation. Third, there is a trend in both domestic and international case law toward the recognition of obligations of non-state actors in safeguarding the environment and protecting human rights.