A timely warning that legal conceptions of human rights must change if
we are to achieve true sustainability and justice for future
generations.
Description
International law evolved to protect human rights. But what are human
rights? Does the term have the same meaning in a world being
transformed by climate change and globalized trade? Are existing laws
sufficient to ensure humanity’s survival? Westra argues that
international law privileges individual over collective rights,
permitting multinational corporations to overlook the collective and
the environment in their quest for wealth. Unless policy makers
redefine human rights and reformulate environmental law to protect the
preconditions for life itself – water, food, clean air, and
biodiversity – humankind faces the complete loss of the
ecological commons, one of our most basic human rights.