Abstract
Over the last several decades there has been a noticeable increase in constitutional reform in the area of environmental human rights. Over 150 countries now include some form of environmental right or duty in their constitutions. These provisions can be understood to form a spectrum from aspirational yet legally weak provisions on one end, ranging through to explicit individual and collective rights, supported by clearly articulated duties and strong judicial oversight, at the other. Some constitutions even grant rights to nature itself, representing a significant move beyond anthropocentric rights and towards a more ecocentric understanding of our relationship with the natural world. This chapter presents an analysis of this body of law, noting the common themes and seeking to identify some of the factors which may have contributed to the pace of this movement for constitutional change. In doing so, it aims to address the ultimate question of whether constitutional environmental rights might provide evidence of a customary environmental right which would be enshrined in international law and binding on all States. This question will be picked up again in Chap. 4, where the status of the right to a good environment will be explored in more detail.
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Notes
- 1.
A number of studies have been conducted in this area, most recently by O’Gorman, who found 148 States which had adopted some form of environmental constitutionalism (2017: 436). The results presented here are outcome of my own survey, conducted in 2017, although I have been guided by the interpretations and assessments of other authors including O’Gorman (2017), Boyd (2012) and May and Daly (2017).
- 2.
Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Comoros, Republic of the Congo, Costa Rica, Cote d’Ivoire, Croatia, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Georgia, Greece, Guinea, Guyana, Hungary, Indonesia, Iraq, Jamaica, Kenya, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lesotho, Macedonia, Mali, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Norway, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Slovakia, Slovenia, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Spain, Timor Leste, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Vietnam, Zimbabwe.
- 3.
Afghanistan, Andorra, Angola, Argentina, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Benin, Bhutan, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Republic of the Congo, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, India, Iran, Kenya, Korea, Kuwait, Latvia, Lesotho, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, North Korea, Palau, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Seychelles, Slovakia, Slovenia, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Spain, Sudan, Swaziland, Sweden, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Timor Leste, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
- 4.
Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Benin, Bhutan, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Colombia, Comoros, Republic of the Congo, Croatia, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Lao, Lithuania, Macedonia, Maldives, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Niger, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Serbia, Seychelles, Slovakia, Slovenia, Somalia, South Sudan, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen.
- 5.
For example, Malawi, Maldives, Qatar, Sweden, Switzerland, which include obligations around sustainable development but no explicit right to environment.
- 6.
See for examples: Azerbaijan, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Colombia, Comoros, Cote d'Ivoire, Croatia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, Georgia, Hungary, Kenya, Macedonia, Mali, Morocco, Nicaragua, Niger, Norway, Panama, Senegal, Serbia, South Sudan, Uganda, Zambia.
- 7.
See, for example, the Constitutions of Afghanistan, Andorra, Angola, Bhutan, Cape Verde, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Kenya, Maldives, Moldova, Mozambique, Panama, Paraguay, Portugal, Romania, Seychelles, South Africa, Suriname, Timor Leste, Ukraine, Venezuela.
- 8.
- 9.
Note that other Western European states also include constitutional rights: France, Belgium, Portugal, Spain, Finland and Norway.
- 10.
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan.
- 11.
Albania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovak Republic, Romania. Also former Yugoslavian states of Serbia, Montenegro and FYR Macedonia.
- 12.
Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Hungary, Serbia, Macedonia.
- 13.
Russian Federation, Turkmenistan, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic.
- 14.
Moldova and Ukraine. Montenegro guarantees a ‘sound environment’ (Constitution of Montenegro, (2007) Article 23) and Belarus a ‘wholesome environment’ (Constitution of the Republic of Belarus (1996) Article 46).
- 15.
Lithuania and Uzbekistan.
- 16.
Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Moldova, Russian Federation, Ukraine, Slovak Republic, Albania, Serbia, Montenegro.
References
Treaties and Legislation
African Charter of Human and Peoples’ Rights, 21 ILM 58, opened for signature June 27 1981, entered into force 21 October 1986
Constitution of Angola (2010)
Constitution of the Argentine Nation (1853; reinst. 1983; rev 1994)
Constitution of Bangladesh (1972; reinst. 1986; rev 2014)
Constitution of the Kingdom of Bhutan (2008)
Constitution of the Plurinational State of Bolivia (2009)
Constitution of Brazil (1988; rev 2015)
Constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (2005; rev 2011)
Constitution of Cuba (1976; rev 2002)
Constitution of the Dominican Republic (2015)
Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador (2008; rev 2015)
Constitution of Ethiopia (1994)
Constitution of Kenya (2010)
Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania (1992; rev 2006)
Constitution of the Republic of the Maldives (2008)
Constitution of the Republic of Moldova (1994; rev 2006)
Constitution of Mongolia (1992; rev 2001)
Constitution of the People’s Republic of China (1982; rev 2004)
Constitution of Portugal (1976; rev 2005)
Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (1996; rev 2012)
Constitution of Spain (1978; rev 2011)
Constitution of the IVth Republic (Togo) (1992; rev 2007)
Constitution of Ukraine (1996; rev 2014)
Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan (1992; rev 2011)
Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, 2161 UNTS 447, opened for signature 25 June 1998, entered into force 30 October 2001 (‘Aarhus Convention’)
Political Constitution of the Republic of Chile (1980; rev 2015)
Cases
North Sea Continental Shelf Cases (Germany v Denmark; Germany v Netherlands) International Court of Justice (1969) ICJ Rep 3
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Lewis, B. (2018). Constitutional Environmental Rights. In: Environmental Human Rights and Climate Change. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1960-0_3
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