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Book review
Donald K Anton and Dinah L Shelton, Environmental Protection
and Human Rights (Cambridge University Press, New York
2011) 986 pp.
Carmen G Gonzalez
Professor of Law, Seattle University School of Law, USA
This new textbook is an eagerly awaited introduction to the field of environmental human
rights by two distinguished scholars and teachers. Dinah L Shelton is the Manatt/Ahn
Professor of International Law at the George Washington University Law School, who
has authored numerous books and articles on human rights law and international envir-
onmental law, and currently serves as Chair of the Inter-American Commission on
Human Rights of the Organization of America n States. Donald K Anton is a faculty
member of the Australian National University College of Law, who has taught and
practiced international law and international environmental l aw since 1988, and has
authored several volumes on these and related subjects.
Sweeping in its coverage, the book examines the emer gence of international human
rights law and environmental law as distinct legal domains and the growing recognition
by scholars, activists, governments, and international and domestic tribunals of the
linkages between environmental protection and human well-being. Although intended
for use as a law school textbook and accompanied by five online probl em-oriented case
studies, this comprehensive volume will also serve as a valuable reference for scholars
and practitioners as well as an excellent survey for newcomers to the field.
Environmental Protection and Human Rights begins with an introduction to the
major environmental challenges confronting present and future generations and the
approaches developed by international and domestic environmental law to address
them. Chapter 2 outlines the interface between interna tional human rights law and
international environmental law and the synergies and tensions between these distinct
fields. Through carefully selected article excerpts and thoughtful discussion questions,
the text stimulates reflection and debate about the advantages and disadvantage s of
human rights-based approaches to environmental protection.
Chapters 3, 4 and 5 provide the general foundation in international human rights law
essential for more detailed consideration of its application to environmental problems.
Beginning with a description of the historical evolution of international human rights
law, these chapters examine the core human rights treaties, their implementation by glo-
bal and regional human rights bodies, and their implications for environmental protection.
The authors seamlessly interweave descriptive material and critical perspectives, and
pose questions designed to highlight the benefits and drawbacks of the institutions and
procedures they describe.
Chapters 6 and 7 analyze the procedural and substantive human rights linked to
environmental protection, including the substantive rights to life, health, water, prop-
erty, privacy, family life, and home; the substantive right to a safe and healthy envir-
onment; and the procedural rights to information, participation in decision-making,
Journal of Human Rights and the Environment, Vol. 3 No. 2, September 2012, pp. 288–291
© 2012 The Author Journal compilation © 2012 Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd
The Lypiatts, 15 Lansdown Road, Cheltenham, Glos GL50 2JA, UK
and The William Pratt House, 9 Dewey Court, Northampton MA 01060-3815, USA
and access to justice. The strength of these chapters is their clarity, cohesiveness, and
organization. The weakness is their failure to incorporate problem-solving exerci ses
that would challenge and engage students by requiring them to apply the legal doc-
trines to concrete disputes. The online case studies, which I discuss below, do provide
valuable practice-oriented exercises. However , they assume familiarity with materials
covered in subsequent chapters and are therefore not ideal as review problems f or
Chapters 6 and 7.
Chapter 8 focuses on the rights of Indigenous peoples under international human
rights law, including rights to ancestral lands and natural resources. It examines the
conceptual foundations of Indigenous peoples’ human rights claims, the international
legal instruments codifying these rights, several decisions of regional human rights
tribunals, and a few examples of nati onal legislation and jurisprudence. The chapter
concludes with an analysis of the impact on Indigenous peoples’ access to traditional
knowledge, lands and resources of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the
climate regime’s programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation in Develop-
ing Countries (REDD).
Although Chapter 8 does not explicitly reference the online case studies,
1
two of
these case studies are excellent companions to this chapter. Case Study III: Climate
Change and Human Rights requires students to evaluate the climate change petition
filed by the Inuit peoples of the Arctic region before the Inter-American Commission
on Human Rights. The case study then examines the human rights implications of cli-
mate change more broadly, including the substantive and procedural rights discu ssed
in Chapters 6 and 7. Case Study IV: Indigenous People s in the Philippines requir es
students to apply Philippine law and inte rnational law to determine whether and
how a company can acquire Indigenous knowledge, plants, and seeds in order to
develop new pharmaceuticals. The case studies are well-crafted and can serve as
the basis of in-class role-playing and problem-solving exercises.
Chapter 9 introduces the legal regimes that seek to protect human rights and the
environment during armed conflicts, natural disasters, and industrial accidents, includ-
ing the laws governing humanitarian intervention and the rights of refugees and intern-
ally displaced persons. Despite its breadth, this chapter is clear, well-organized,
enlightening, and engaging. Case Study I: Transboundary Pollution appears to comple-
ment the sections of the chapter dealing with state responsibility for failure to prevent
transboundary harm. In addition, this case study can be used to review the tort-based
approaches to environmental protection discussed in Chapter 1 and the substantive
and procedural environmental human rights discussed in Chapters 6 and 7.
Chapter 10 analyzes the role of intergovern mental financial institutions in ensuri ng
that the projects they finance respect human rights and minimize harmful environmen-
tal impacts. This chapter offers a very thorough account of the origins and operation of
the World Ba nk Inspection Panel, using as example s the reports from several hydro-
electric project s (inclu ding the Sard ar Sar ovar da m and ir rigation pr ojects in In dia).
In addition, this chapter explicitly ref erences Case Stud y II: Large Dams, for a more
detailed study of the environmental, developmental and human rights consequences
of hydroelectric projects.
Finally, Chapter 11 examines efforts to impose enforce able human rights obliga-
tions on corporations. The chapter provides an overview of the rise of multinational
corporations, the legal regimes that govern their rights and obligations, and efforts to
1. The online case studies are available at <http://www.cambridge.org/aus/catalogue/catalogue.
asp?isbn=9780521747103&resISBN13=9780521747103&parent=10197&ss=res#resource>.
Book review 289
© 2012 The Author Journal compilation © 2012 Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd
regulate or influence their operations using international law, domestic law, voluntary
initiatives, civil litigation by victims of human rights and environmental abuses , and
communications with UN Special Rapporteurs.
Environmental Protection and Human Rights is an exceptionally thoughtful, clear,
and comprehensive introduction to rights-based approaches to environmental protec-
tion. The authors present more mater ial than most law professors would assign in a
standard course, but this is a virtue rather than a vice because it allows legal educators
to pick and choose the material they will emphasize.
However, there are some noteworthy gaps in the book’s coverage. First, one sig-
nificant weakness o f the bo ok is its fa ilure to a ddress in C hapters 6 and 7 (or in a
stand-alone chapter) the relationship between environmental protection and the
human rights norms prohibiting race discrimination. Throughou t the world, the bur-
dens of pollution, land degradation, and resource depletion are disproportionately
borne by racial minorities and the poor.
2
Empirical studies in the United States
have concluded that race is the single strongest predictor of exposure to environmen-
tal hazards.
3
While the authors recognize elsewhere in the volume the disparate racial
impact of environmental degradation,
4
the book inexplicably neglects to discu ss how
anti-discrimination norms have been or could be used to promote environmental jus-
tice. Such a discussion would be extremely helpful to students, scholars an d practi-
tioners – particularly since one of the environmental human rights cases currently
pending befo re the Inter-American Commission is an enviro nmental ra cism ca se
filed on behalf of the largely African-American community of Mossville, Louisiana
in the United States.
5
Second, the book does not discuss efforts to incorporate human rights and envir-
onmental protection into trade and investment agreements; does not analyze the treat-
ment of human rights and environmental issues in the burgeoning trade and
investment jurisprudence emanating from the World Trade Organization and arbitra-
tion tribunals; and does not examine the environmental human rights implications of
the free market economic reforms imposed upon debtor nations by the International
Monetary Fund. Given the impact of the global economic order on human rights
and the environment, these omissions are surprising.
Third, the textbook devotes insufficient attention to the cutting edge issue of extra-
territorial liability for human rights violations. Although the authors discuss the state’s
due diligence obligation to prevent extraterritorial environmental harm,
6
only Case
Study III: Climate Change and Human Rights discusses (albeit briefly) the extraterri-
torial duties imposed by human rights law, including the duties to ‘refrain from inter-
fering with the enjoyment of human righ ts in other countries,’ to prevent such
interference by private actors, and to refrain from entering into international
2. WE Rees and L Westra, ‘When Consumption Does Violence: Can There be Sustainability
and Environmental Justice in a Resource-limited World?’ in J Agyem an, RD Bullard, and
B Evans (e ds), Just Sustainabilities: Development in an Unequal World (The MIT Pr ess,
Cambridge 2003), 100.
3. LW Cole and SR Foster, From the Ground Up: Environmental Racism and the Rise of the
Environmental Justice Movement (New York University Press, New York 2001), 54–5.
4. DK Anton and DL Shelton, Environmental Protection and Human Rights (Cambridge
University Press, New York 2011), 147, 546–9.
5. Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Report No. 43/10, Petition 242-05,
Admissibility, Mossville Environmental Action Now – United States, 17 March 2010 (finding
the Mossville case admissible), <http://www.cidh.oas.org/casos/10.eng.htm>.
6. Anton and Shelton (n 4), 80–81, 110–12, 738–43.
290 Journal of Human Rights and the Environment, Vol. 3 No. 2
© 2012 The Author Journal compilation © 2012 Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd
agreements that result in such interference.
7
For example, might a state incur liability
for failing to exercise due diligence to prevent foreseeable extraterritorial human
rights viola tions by corp orati ons u nder its jurisdict ion and contr ol o r f or en tering
into bilateral investment treaties that restrict the ability of the host state to regulate
foreign investors in a manner that protects human rights?
8
While the issue o f state
responsibility for extraterritorial human rights violations is highly relevant t o the
topic of climate change, it is also a significant cross-cutting issue that merits careful
analysis in the body of the textbook.
9
Despite these shortcomings, Environmental Protection and Human Rights is a
remarkable book that will enable students, scholars, and practitioners to understand
the theoretical underpinnings and practical application of human rights-based
approaches to environmental protection. The authors infuse their textbook with a
wealth of knowledge and experience in both environmental law and human rights
law, and help satisfy the growing need for course materia ls on the intersection of
these vitally important areas of law. As communities throughout the world clamour
for environmental protection and vigorous enforcement of human rights, this volume
will pla y an important role in helping to train the next generation of environmental
human rights lawyers.
7. Ibid., Online Case Study III: Climate Change, 33, at <http://www.cambridge.org/
resources/0521747104/10222_9780521747103+Casestudy+3.pdf>.
8. R McCorquodale and P Simons, ‘Responsibility Beyond Borders: State Responsibility for
Extraterritorial Violations by Corporations of Inte rnatio nal Human Rights Law’ (2007) 70
Modern Law Review 617, 619–23.
9. For an overview of this important topic, see M Gibney and S Skogly (eds) Universal
Human Rights and Extraterritorial Obligations (University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia
2010).
Book review 291
© 2012 The Author Journal compilation © 2012 Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd