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Environmental Constitutionalism: A Comparative Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 September 2017

Roderic O’Gorman
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Abstract

While 148 of the 196 national constitutions in effect today manifest some form of environmental constitutionalism, the fact that some states have not adopted such provisions suggests that their spread is not inexorable. This article investigates the factors which affect whether a state adopts environmental constitutionalism. By undertaking a historical analysis of those countries which have so amended their constitutions, it identifies the context in which the constitutional change takes place as a significant consideration. The context of constitutional change influences the amendment process, which is then opened up to a range of other factors, both external (learning/persuasion, acculturation/emulation) and internal (political leadership, public and sectoral engagement, constitutional ideology, national environmental damage), all of which are considered by examining previous efforts to enshrine environmental constitutionalism. The article concludes by highlighting four specific responses that are key to successful amendment processes, namely: capitalizing on crisis situations; ensuring that economic concerns are adequately addressed; leveraging the support of the public and politicians; and linking environmental protection to national values.

Keywords

Environmental constitutionalismEnvironmental rightsComparative constitutionalism
Type
Articles
Information
Transnational Environmental Law , Volume 6 , Issue 3 , November 2017 , pp. 435 - 462
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2017 

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Footnotes

*

Dublin City University, School of Law & Government, Dublin (Ireland). Email: Roderic.ogorman@dcu.ie.

My thanks to my colleagues Tom Hickey, James Gallen and Adam McAuley for comments on earlier drafts, to Aoife McPartland for research assistance, and to the anonymous reviewers who provided extremely comprehensive and useful feedback.

References

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2 Boyd, D.R., The Environmental Rights Revolution: A Global Study of Constitutions, Human Rights, and the Environment (UBC Press, 2012), p. 3 Google Scholar.

3 Constitution of the Republic of Italy, Art. 9.

4 See Table 1 at the end of this article.

5 St Vincent and the Grenadines (2009); Iceland (2013).

6 See also Jeffords, C. & Minkler, L., ‘Do Constitutions Matter? The Effects of Constitutional Environmental Rights Provisions on Environmental Outcomes’ (2016) 69(2) Kyklos, pp. 294–335 Google Scholar.

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8 Boyd’s work provided major guidance on when each constitution was amended: D.R. Boyd, ‘The Status of Constitutional Protection for the Environment in Other Nations’, David Suzuki Foundation, Paper No. 4, 2014, available at: http://www.davidsuzuki.org/publications/2014/whitepapers/DSF%20White%20Paper%204.pdf.

9 See Table 1 at the end of this article. The categorization for some states was borderline, particularly between regime consolidation and crisis change (e.g. Egypt, Guinea and Myanmar). Generally, where the existing government retained control over the process, the state is assigned to the regime consolidation category. While in Eritrea the government totally controlled the process, it is assigned to crisis change as a result of its gaining independence from Ethiopia.

10 Constitution of Algeria, Art. 122(19)–(20); Constitution of Austria, Arts 10(9) and (11); Constitution of Sierra Leone, Art. 17(3)(a).

11 Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania, Art. 27.

12 Constitution of Australia, Art. 47; Constitution of Uruguay, Art. 100.

13 Fighting desertification is mandated in the Constitutions of Niger (Art. 36) and Somalia (Art. 45(3)(d)).

14 Frank, Hironaka and Schofer use a similar justification in examining the global spread of Environmental Ministries as distinct from Natural Resource Ministries, stating that the former ‘seek to protect, rather than exploit, nature’s bounty’: Frank, D.J., Hironaka, A. & Schofer, E., ‘The Nation-State and the Natural Environment over the Twentieth Century’ (2000) 65 American Sociological Review, pp. 96–116 CrossRefGoogle Scholar, at 99.

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24 Constitution of the Republic of Finland, s. 20(2); Charter for the Environment (France), Art. 7; Constitution of the Sovereign and Independent State of Eretria, Art. 10(3).

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31 Constitution of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, Art. 45.

32 Constitution of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Art. 21.

33 Constitution of the Republic of Nepal, Art. 35(5).

34 Constitution of Estonia, Art. 35.

35 Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms of the Czech Republic, Art. 35(3).

36 Constitution of Ukraine, Art. 67; Constitution of Democratic Republic of Congo, Art. 54(2).

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42 Freedom of the Press Act (1766) (Sweden), Art. 9(3), Ch. 1.

43 Constitution of the Republic of Montenegro, Art. 59(2).

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66 Ibid.

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74 Gellers, ‘Explaining the Emergence of Constitutional Environmental Rights’, n. 15 above, p. 85.

75 Gellers conducted statistical research on the reasons why states adopt environmental constitutionalism and found that there is an inconclusive relationship between a country’s reliance on foreign financial assistance and the likelihood that it will adopt constitutional environmental rights: Gellers, ‘Explaining the Emergence of Constitutional Environmental Rights’, n. 15 above, p. 93.

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90 Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador, Art. 71(1).

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94 Personal communication with Mari Margil, Associate Director, CELDF, 21 Jan. 2015.

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97 Simmons, Dobbin & Garrett, n. 62 above, p. 799.

98 Hart, n. 1 above, p. 2.

99 Frank, Hironaka & Schofer, n. 14 above, p. 99.

100 Ibid.

101 Constitution of Romania, Art. 134(2)(e)–(f).

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105 Nairobi (Kenya), 27 June 1981, in force 21 Oct. 1986, available at: http://www.achpr.org/instruments/achpr.

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130 Ibid., p. 1175, 1230; as measured between 2000–6.

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138 O’Brien & Wheatle, n. 134 above, p. 698.

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158 Ruhl, J.B., ‘An Environmental Rights Amendment: Good Message, Bad Idea’ (1997) 11(3) Natural Resources and the Environment, pp. 46–49 Google Scholar, at 47.

159 See Danielsson, J., ‘The First Casualty of the Crisis: Iceland’, in A. Felton & C. Reinhart (eds), The First Global Financial Crisis of the 21st Century: Part II June–December 2008 (Centre for Economic Policy Research, 2009)Google Scholar; Matthiasson, T., ‘Spinning Out of Control, Iceland in Crisis’ (2009) 34(3) Nordic Journal of Political Economy, pp. 1–19 Google Scholar.

160 T. Gylfason, ‘Iceland’s Crowdsourced Constitution Killed by Parliament’, Verfassungsblog, 30 Mar. 2013, available at: http://www.verfassungsblog.de/en/putsch-icelands-crowd-sourced-constitution-killed-by-parliament-2.

161 E. Bergman, ‘Reconstituting Iceland – Constitutional Reform Caught in a New Critical Order in the Wake of Crisis’, conference paper delivered at ‘Political Legitimacy and the Paradox of Regulation’, Leiden University (The Netherlands), 24–25 Jan. 2013, p. 12, available at: http://www.academia.edu/2463798/Reconstituting_Iceland_constitutional_reform_caught_in_a_new_critical_order_in_the_wake_of_crisis. The country undertook an unusual approach to drafting the new constitution, using innovative techniques such as crowdsourcing, broad-based public participation and the election of a 25-member Constitutional Assembly to write the document: Landemore, n. 156 above, p. 166.

162 B. Thorarensen, ‘Why the Making of a Crowd-Sourced Constitution in Iceland Failed’, Constitution Making and Constitution Change Blog, International Association of Constitutional Law, 26 Feb. 2014, available at: http://constitutional-change.com/why-the-making-of-a-crowd-sourced-constitution-in-iceland-failed.

163 Gylfason, n. 160 above.

164 Ginsburg, Elkins & Blount, n. 45 above, pp. 208, 215; Rosenn, K.S., ‘Brazil’s New Constitution: An Exercise in Transient Constitutionalism for a Transitional Society’ (1990) 38(4) American Journal of Comparative Law, pp. 773–802 Google Scholar, at 777.

165 Landemore, n. 156 above, p. 170.

166 Bourg & Whiteside, n. 113 above, p. 117.

167 See Ruhl, n. 158 above; Sunstein, C., ‘Against Positive Rights’ (1993) 2(1) East European Constitutional Review, pp. 35–38 Google Scholar.

168 Okere, B.O., ‘The Protection of Human Rights in Africa and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights: A Comparative Analysis with the European and American Systems’ (1984) 6(2) Human Rights Quarterly, pp. 141–159 Google Scholar, at 141; Kiwanuka, R.N., ‘The Meaning of “People” in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights’ (1988) 82(1) The American Journal of International Law, pp. 80–101 Google Scholar.

169 O’Brien, n. 135 above, p. 275. The Charter also introduced proposals justified under the auspices of conservative Jamaican national values, such as a constitutional prohibition on same-sex marriage.

170 Schauer, n. 46 above, pp. 911–12; Gellers, ‘Environmental Constitutionalism in South Asia’, n. 15 above; Gordon, n. 140 above.

171 Fernandes, n. 147 above, p. 54.