In this talk, I discuss the different types of environmental rights, explain their origins, impacts, and distribution around the United States and the world, and offer resources for reporting environmental injustices in Duval County, Florida.

1. The Global Emergence of
Constitutional Environmental Rights
Dr. Josh Gellers
University of North Florida
Jax Makerspace, Main Library
July 9, 2019

2. Right to
Environment
Right of the
Environment
Photo: Getty Images
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3. • “Working people and citizens…shall have the
right…to assure conditions for the conservation
and improvement of the natural and man-made
values of the human environment…”
– Constitution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia,
§11, Art. 87 (1974).
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4. Constitutions with Environmental Provisions
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5. Types of Constitutional Environmental Rights
• “Every Ugandan has a right to a clean and healthy
environment.” (Constitution of the Republic of
Uganda, Ch. Three, Art. 39)
Solidarity
(84):
• “Everyone has the right to be informed about the
status of the environment and its protection.”
(Albanian Constitution, Pt. Two, Ch. IV, Art. 56)
Procedural
(43):
• “No person shall be deprived of his life or personal
liberty except according to procedure established
by law.” (Constitution of India, Pt. III, Art. 21)
Derivative
(13):
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6. Expansion of CERs (1974-2019)
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7. CERs by Region (1974-2019)
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8. Constitutional Environmental Rights: Global Distribution
Source: EnviroRightsMap.org
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9. Environmental Rights:
Why do countries have them?
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10. Previous Explanations
Growing international concern for environmental issues
• Shelton 1991, Bándi 1992, Popović 1996, Ebeku 2007
Changing international norms and social movement pressure
• Hancock 2003
Expansion of constitutional democracy, recognition of human rights, global
environmental crisis
• Boyd 2012
Level of democracy, legal tradition, sustainability of tourism, and major changes to the
constitution
• Gutmann, Imhof, and Voigt 2013
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11. Do we have environmental rights in
the United States?
• State level:
– YES
• Federal level:
– NO
• Why not?
– 1) Age
– 2) Agency
– 3) Attempts
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12. World Cultural Framework of Environmental Rights
Constitutionalism Environmentalization Human Rights
Constitutional
Environmental
Rights
Individualism Rationalization Universalism
WorldCultureNormsPolicies
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Actors
Actors
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13. My Research
Quantitative
Qualitative
- Influence of INGOs
- Level of Democracy
- Human Rights Record
- Strength of Environmental Laws
- Judicial Treatment of
Environmental Cases
- Period when Constitution was
Drafted
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14. Environmental Rights:
Do they work?
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15. Impacts of Environmental Rights
Smaller ecological footprints
• Boyd 2012
Greater environmental performance
• Jeffords and Minkler 2016
Better access to improved water and sanitation sources
• Gellers and Jeffords 2018
Reduced carbon emissions
• Cepparulo et al. 2019
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16. Rights of Nature in Court
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17. Discussion Questions
• Do you think we should have environmental
rights in our state constitution? How about our
national Constitution? Why or why not?
• How might climate change relate to human
rights? What are the human rights implications of
sea level rise here in Duval County?
• How can we ensure that the most vulnerable
among us have their rights protected?
• What would you do if your environmental rights
were being violated?
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18. Refuse to Accept Environmental Injustices in
Our Community
• Whom can contact if you or someone you know is
suffering from environmental harms?
– COJ Environmental Quality Division
• Visit https://630city.coj.net/ or call 904-630-2489
– Jacksonville City Council Members
• Visit http://www.coj.net/city-council.aspx
– Florida DEP, Northeast District Outreach Ombudsman
• Email Russell.Simpson@dep.state.fl.us or call 904-256-1653
– Members of the local media
• Email Mark Woods (T-U) mwoods@jacksonville.com, Nate
Monroe (T-U) nmonroe@jacksonville.com, or Melissa Ross
(WJCT) firstcoastconnect@wjct.org.
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19. Thank you.
Questions?
Contact:
josh.gellers@gmail.com
www.joshgellers.com
@JoshGellers
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