Conference Agenda

Earth System Science indicates the existence of planetary boundaries. Crossing these limits means leaving the safe-operating space for humanity provided for by the relatively climate-stable epoch of the Holocene. In the Anthropocene, humanity - and in particular its richer parts - have become a factor destabilizing the earth system. What is relatively clear is that economic growth as we know it would lead to destabilization with devasting consequences particularly in the Global South. What is far less obvious is whether green growth within planetary boundaries is possible or whether a more radical degrowth agenda needs to be pursued. In particular, as both proponents of degrowth and green growth each claim that only by adopting their policy prescriptions is it possible to overcome poverty and inequality. A legal discourse on this matter is almost absent. Yet, the paper argues that law is not oblivious to these questions. To do so, the paper builds upon critical literature on international environmental law to highlight the many “complicities” between law, inequality, and economic growth. Whereas this stream of literature tends to condemn “human rights as a hubristic and harmful organizing category”, the paper promotes a more differentiated reading. Human rights may “not [be] enough” but they are one tool among others to address structural inequality. Despite persisting scientific uncertainties, a progressive reading of human rights and the precautionary principle require States to respect and protect planetary boundaries. In that sense, human rights may not require States to immediately shift from (green) growth to degrowth but in the long run some sort of stabilization will be required. In sum, by providing a minimum floor of social protection and upward ecological limits, human rights actually have the potential to transform Kate Raworth’s “doughnut economics” into “doughnut jurisprudence”.

Environmental human rights defenders (EHRD) fight for political, cultural, social, economic and environmental rights alike, while often facing intimidation and violence for their work and activism. This paper summarises first results from a new inter-disciplinary project where we investigate to what extent EHRD serve as important agents of change – at the crossroads of cultural and biodiversity conservation as well as climate change mitigation and adaptation.

We first develop an overarching conceptual understanding of EHRD that can be applied to different social and regional contexts. We then establish a theoretical framework to identify major socio-environmental discourses that underlie the motivations and goals of EHRD – and that inform their understandings of what is (not) cultural heritage and of what the cultural, ecological and social crises are they seek to address, as well as the priorities they may set thereby.

We apply this conceptual and theoretical framework to post-conflict Colombia, where EHRD assume a prominent yet precarious role as change agents. Although EHRD are legally protected, Colombia has become the most dangerous country worldwide for EHRD with more than 400 killings recorded since 2016. We select three regional study areas: the department of Putumayo in southern Colombia, the Amazon departments of Vaupes and Amazonas, and the Sumapaz region located in the central part of the country. In addition to the EHRD themselves, we include the groups and communities they belong to or represent, including their own gender, cultural and ethnic identities - and we scrutinize the degree of legitimacy the EHRD have as leaders within and beyond these groups.

Our analysis of EHRD, their groups and the dynamics between them is guided by the following research questions:

1. Which major motivations, goals and underlying discourses inform EHRD and their understandings of the cultural, biocultural and climate change crises they seek to address?
2. Which practices and strategies do EHRD employ to pursue their goals?
3. Which successes and obstacles – including implications for their vulnerability –have EHRD faced in Colombia since the signing of the peace agreement in 2016?
4. Which lessons can be learned with a view to supporting and protecting EHRD in Colombia across scales?

Across these steps, we use an interdisciplinary mixed-methods approach drawing on political science, human geography, sustainability science and law. Our expected findings seek to contribute to better understanding and supporting different groups of EHRD, through informing international and Colombian policy makers, civil society organizations and academics.

The importance of litigation for advancing justice and equitable allocation of resources, rights, and access is evident in the increasing number of climate change and just transitions litigation shaping transformations in earth system governance. During the COVID-19 pandemic, courts were also instrumental in securing access to essential services for populations in vulnerable situations. Similarly, within the context of water and sanitation governance, courts and quasi-judicial institutions have played an indispensable role in shaping the rules of allocation and distributing the costs and benefits of access. Understanding the modes of litigation on the human rights to water and sanitation is vital to delineating the impacts of courts (decisions) on allocation and access, conceptualizing water and sanitation justice, and identifying legal opportunities for human rights to water and sanitation litigation in various contexts. Remarkably, countries and communities in the Global South have experienced multiple disputes and legal actions over water and sanitation justice. Hence, there is significant human rights to water and sanitation jurisprudence from the Global South which can advance global understanding of justice, access, allocation, and rights in water and sanitation governance. The knowledge of water and sanitation justice is also critical for assessing the implications of emerging water governance paradigms such as water futures trading. Against this backdrop, this paper addresses the question: What new demands for justice and allocation materialize from analyzing human rights to water and sanitation litigation in the Global South? The paper proposes a theoretical framework for understanding the modes of human rights to water and sanitation litigation and the pathways for justice and equitable access and allocation. The theoretical framework is valuable for understanding: (1) the role of the courts in water and sanitation governance; (2) drivers which influence the key actors shaping the trajectory of water and sanitation litigation; and (3) legal opportunities and the prospects of water and sanitation justice.

The activities of multinational corporations have in many cases been linked to adverse human rights and environmental impacts in distant sites of production. Until recently, there have been few effective mechanisms at the national or international level to hold companies legally accountable for the adverse impacts caused by subsidiaries and suppliers. In recent years, governments in Europe have increasingly begun to adopt new laws building on a Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence (HREDD) approach. HREDD laws obligate companies to assess and address negative impacts caused by subsidiaries and suppliers, thereby promising to contribute to corporate accountability across national borders. Whereas previous research has analyzed the contested policymaking processes and the legal design of new regulations, the effectiveness of HREDD laws also depends on the uptake of such laws by different actors in producing sites.

This paper discusses the role of civil society actors in pressuring companies to comply with their legal obligations and to improve their due diligence systems. Empirically, we focus on the cattle and soy supply chains from Brazil to Europe. These commodities have contributed to massive deforestation and human rights violations in Brazil. Civil society organizations in both Brazil and Western countries have been active in campaigns to generate awareness of such impacts.

Based on empirical material collected during a three-months fieldwork in Brazil, we provide for an in-depth analysis of how civil society actors in Brazil perceive and have started to make use of European HREDD regulations to enhance corporate accountability. We show that Brazilian civil society organizations have increasingly collected data for linking impacts on the ground to specific multinational companies and have enhanced coalitions with European organizations to create awareness of HREDD regulations as well as to disseminate evidence of the negative impacts of business activities. Whereas it is too early to evaluate the results of these actions, we expect that the pressure from these emerging transnational civil society networks will contribute to improve companies’ due diligence systems and enhance corporate accountability. Based on our findings, we discuss how the capacity of transnational civil society networks can be strengthened and contribute to ongoing scholarly debates about the effectiveness of new regulations for enhancing the sustainability of global supply chains.