Procedural rights for nature – a pathway to sustainable decarbonisation?

Andrea Schapper, Clemens Hoffmann and Phyllis Lee

Third World Quarterly, 2022, vol. 43, issue 5, 1197-1216

Abstract: Resource conflicts and human–environment conflicts are active around the globe. As planetary, carbon-induced climate change necessitates new responses, the policies and practices of decarbonisation add new dimensions to existing conflicts. Using examples from two nations with ambitious aims for the decarbonisation of their economies, Ethiopia and Morocco, we illustrate how unintended conflicts and adverse ecosystem impacts arise when nature cannot participate in decision-making processes. Transition to low-carbon economies, we argue, generates and exacerbates multi-dimensional conflicts of interest between state and society, as well as between society and ecosystems. Taking an interdisciplinary perspective, we suggest establishing procedural rights of nature via (1) stronger consideration of scientific expertise, (2) an enhancement of environmental safeguards and (3) making funding linked to Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) conditional upon participation of nature in decision-making processes through legal guardians. We use counterfactuals as a method to demonstrate how procedural rights of nature, in the cases of Ethiopia and Morocco, could change green economy and climate mitigation projects, making them less conflict-prone and more sustainable.

Date: 2022
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/01436597.2022.2057293 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:ctwqxx:v:43:y:2022:i:5:p:1197-1216

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/ctwq20

DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2022.2057293

Access Statistics for this article

Third World Quarterly is currently edited by Shahid Qadir

More articles in Third World Quarterly from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().