Suchergebnisse

On November 30, the Brussels Court of Appeal rendered a landmark decision in the climate case brought by "Klimaatzaak" ("climate case" in Dutch) against Belgian public authorities (the federal and the three regional governments). In this decision, the court found the federal authority and the Brussels and Flemish regions' climate action to be in violation of Articles 2 and 8 of the ECHR and of their duty of care, and imposed a minimal GHG reduction target to be reached by Belgian authorities for the future. In their blogpost, Alice Briegleb and Antoine De Spiegeleir provide a clear overview of the case, exploring its previous stages and insisting on the continuing failures of the Belgian climate governance and its complex federal structure. We focus on our part on how the decision makes it clear that the climate justice movement is now confronted with the tension between the legally required and the ethically desirable parameters of climate effort distribution.

Cet article analyse la mobilisation croissante des droits humains au sein du contentieux climatique à l'encontre des Etats. Tout d'abord, afin de mieux comprendre le rôle évolutif joué par les droits humains dans l'argumentaire juridique des requérants, cette contribution propose une analyse des différentes décisions rendues contre les Etats en matière climatique. Si les droits fondamentaux permettaient de combler l'absence de cadre législatif contraignant en matière climatique, ils deviennent maintenant aussi un standard d'évaluation des objectifs climatiques adoptés par les autorités nationales. En outre cette contribution explore les forces et faiblesses du référentiel des droits humains en tant qu'outil de mobilisation pour les mouvements climatiques. D'une part, ce langage permet de fédérer le mouvement autour d'une notion universelle, de favoriser un échange argumentaire entre les différents acteurs à travers le monde et de mettre en avant les victimes d'injustices climatiques. D'autre part, l'on reviendra sur les risques d'individualisation et de dépolitisation engendrés par l'irruption du vocabulaire des droits humains. Loin d'être des limites indépassables, ces critiques permettent néanmoins de rappeler que si le débat politique face à l'urgence climatique peut se prolonger dans l'arène judicaire, il ne peut s'y résumer.

Cet article analyse la mobilisation croissante des droits humains au sein du contentieux climatique à l'encontre des Etats. Tout d'abord, afin de mieux comprendre le rôle évolutif joué par les droits humains dans l'argumentaire juridique des requérants, cette contribution propose une analyse des différentes décisions rendues contre les Etats en matière climatique. Si les droits fondamentaux permettaient de combler l'absence de cadre législatif contraignant en matière climatique, ils deviennent maintenant aussi un standard d'évaluation des objectifs climatiques adoptés par les autorités nationales. En outre cette contribution explore les forces et faiblesses du référentiel des droits humains en tant qu'outil de mobilisation pour les mouvements climatiques. D'une part, ce langage permet de fédérer le mouvement autour d'une notion universelle, de favoriser un échange argumentaire entre les différents acteurs à travers le monde et de mettre en avant les victimes d'injustices climatiques. D'autre part, l'on reviendra sur les risques d'individualisation et de dépolitisation engendrés par l'irruption du vocabulaire des droits humains. Loin d'être des limites indépassables, ces critiques permettent néanmoins de rappeler que si le débat politique face à l'urgence climatique peut se prolonger dans l'arène judicaire, il ne peut s'y résumer.

Our companies have validated the cartesian credo, according to which man must behave as master and owner of nature. This contribution analyses some of the key elements of the current ecological crisis: dualism and anthropocentrism at the heart of our ethical foundations, private ownership and its utilitarianism within the legal systems, and the merchandisation specific to the capitalist system. Environmental law itself has become part of this pre-existing body, since far from having pushed for the emergence of new models, it has maintained an unwavering belief in the market as an environmental regulator. The rights of nature are designed to bring about a revolution. A philosophical revolution in the sense that ecosystems are recognised as having intrinsic value: nature is not only valued through the benefits that humanity can derive from it. A legal revolution in so far as nature becomes a subject of law and the latter is no longer protected solely by human interests. A cultural revolution, lastly, by promoting indigenous peoples for whom interdependence, reciprocity and complementarity are fundamental values rooted in a cosmology that places people within nature. The aim of this step is not to be achieved at the expense of human well-being, but to place it within ecological limits. Nature rights are an instrument that condemns both the exploitation of nature and the exploitation of the most vulnerable people within the productive system. If the idea of radical separation between humanity and the natural world is discarded, then the rights of nature protect ecosystems as much as human communities from profit-based predatory logic. In this sense, human and nature rights are complementary and interdependent. ; Nos sociétés ont validé le credo cartésien selon lequel l'homme doit se comporter comme maître et possesseur de la nature. Cette contribution analyse certaines clés de la crise écologique actuelle : le dualisme et l'anthropocentrisme au cœur de nos fondements éthiques, la propriété privée et sa justification ...

In light of the expanding critical academic literature on the social and ecological limits to a growth-based paradigm, this article investigates the ties between economic, social and cultural rights (ESC rights) and economic growth in the case law of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR). It shows that the CESCR assumes economic growth to generally improve the realisation of ESC rights because it increases States' financial capacity and leads to employment creation. However, while the Committee deems that growth models should be inclusive, the CESCR never adopts a critical perspective on the possibility or desirability to pursue economic growth indefinitely. Despite recent evidence on the contested possibility to decouple economic activity from resource use, the Committee's recent ecological turn remains embedded in the growth paradigm. This article argues that the Committee should advocate towards decreasing the dependence of ESC rights on growth, especially when a State has reached a certain level of affluence.

As the world faces an unprecedented economic crisis, governments have adopted various stimulus plans to speed up the recovery. This article examines how the fight against poverty can be combined with the search for a development model that mitigates climate change and halts the erosion of biodiversity. The transformation also needs to strengthen the rights of people living in poverty. In specific areas, such as energy, buildings, food or mobility, 'triple-dividend' actions can be taken that would reduce the ecological footprint while simultaneously creating employment opportunities for people with low levels of qualification and facilitating access to goods and services essential to the enjoyment of human rights. Such actions should be underpinned by a different development model that places the fight against inequalities above the exclusive focus on economic growth. 'Building back better' entails taking public action towards the eradication of poverty within planetary boundaries.

As the world faces an unprecedented economic crisis, governments have adopted various stimulus plans to speed up the recovery. This article examines how the fight against poverty can be combined with the search for a development model that mitigates climate change and halts the erosion of biodiversity. The transformation also needs to strengthen the rights of people living in poverty. In specific areas, such as energy, buildings, food or mobility, 'triple-dividend' actions can be taken that would reduce the ecological footprint while simultaneously creating employment opportunities for people with low levels of qualification and facilitating access to goods and services essential to the enjoyment of human rights. Such actions should be underpinned by a different development model that places the fight against inequalities above the exclusive focus on economic growth. 'Building back better' entails taking public action towards the eradication of poverty within planetary boundaries.

As the world faces an unprecedented economic crisis, governments have adopted various stimulus plans to speed up the recovery. This article examines how the fight against poverty can be combined with the search for a development model that mitigates climate change and halts the erosion of biodiversity. The transformation also needs to strengthen the rights of people living in poverty. In specific areas, such as energy, buildings, food or mobility, 'triple-dividend' actions can be taken that would reduce the ecological footprint while simultaneously creating employment opportunities for people with low levels of qualification and facilitating access to goods and services essential to the enjoyment of human rights. Such actions should be underpinned by a different development model that places the fight against inequalities above the exclusive focus on economic growth. 'Building back better' entails taking public action towards the eradication of poverty within planetary boundaries.