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The human rights implications of green democracies in the era of digitalisation
Abstract
Are democratic institutions resilient to global and local environmental change? This is the main question of our times in the midst of environmental degradation, climate change, habitat and biodiversity loss. In the 21st century, even regions and states with a long democratic history have to face the challenges posed by environmental urgency. In my paper and presentation, I would like to highlight the definition of green democracies and the human rights implications of such settlements. Digital solutions, including artificial intelligence, can hinder but also help achieve and support the green transition. Despite the challenges, there is hope in the potential of digital solutions to support the transition to green democracies. Green democracies and green cities have been receiving growing attention from NGOs, states, and the European Union, based on the realization that green decisions and successful solutions are easier to achieve locally and not globally. In the frame of the SDGs, EU and international programs, more and more settlements opt for environmental democracy. In the second part of my paper, I am concentrating on the role of digital solutions and AI, particularly how these solutions can support the tools of direct democracy, which has proved to be an essential and significant element of green democracies.
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The international community has to face the adverse effects of climate
change and a never seen environmental destruction. There are several areas
of climate resilience, which means how a community can adapt to the challenges
caused by environmental destruction. Urban climate resilience is crucial
in the fight against climate change since more than half of the World’s
population lives in urban settlements. Large-scale urbanisation started at the
time of the Industrial Revolution. However, due to work opportunities and
the standard of living, modern societies still tend to prefer the urban lifestyle.
Therefore, declarations and policy plans were adopted in the international
and European spheres, aiming to achieve productive, sustainable and
resilient cities for liveable and inclusive areas. From 2015 till 2030, the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) serve as a basis for green development.
Meanwhile, the Basque Declaration was adopted in 2017 for the European
region to provide a detailed plan for urban climate resilience based on the
three main pillars of sustainability: economic, environmental and social considerations.
Moreover, as emphasised in several documents, a liveable,
healthy environment is indispensable for thoroughly enjoying human rights.
In this article, the Authors define sustainable cities in light of SDG11 and
provide a detailed analysis of human rights considerations.
Background
In order to protect public health during the outbreaks of infectious diseases including the pandemic COVID-19, provision of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) services is important. The challenges of inaccessible WASH services along with the pandemic COVID-19 in low-income countries can lead to a devastating problem.
Method
A systematic search of published articles was identified using PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar, on relevant studies of COVID-19 and WASH services. Published articles were identified using abstracts and titles of the articles, followed by assessed for eligibility, and screening of the full text reports of relevant studies.
Results
Electronic database search identified 798 articles from which 28 full text articles were included in the systematic review. A lack of access to WASH services in households, schools, health care facilities, and other public spaces were the main identified COVID-19 related public health risks. A lack of adequate data and financial shortages were the challenges for mitigating the problems of COVI-19 and WASH services.
Conclusion
This systematical review identified the impacts and challenges of COVID-19 in the provision of WASH services. The results implied that COVID-19 has significant impacts on WASH services that can affect the health of the public. Therefore, strengthening and ensuring access to WASH services are important for preventing COVID-19 and realizing human rights. Community engagement also can be used to support for prevention and control of COVID-19. Countries need to be expand their investment in WASH services as an important mechanism for mitigating COVID-19.
This chapter discusses how artificial intelligence (AI) interacts with the right to a healthy environment. It shows that AI technology plays a dual role in its relationship with the environment: while certain AI applications benefit environmental protection, others have adverse effects. These latter vary in form and scope. However, the most discernible problem of AI technology for the environment is the generation of a large amount of carbon emissions. After highlighting this profound impact, the chapter proceeds with an analysis of whether human-right-to-environment claims could be used to mitigate the negative effects of AI. The outcome is that although a right to a healthy environment can in principle improve the status quo, corporate actors would remain with no hard law human rights obligations.
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