Konferenzbericht: On the Politics of Legal Processes to Redress Environmental Injustices
workshop participants
With the climate crisis progressing, the topic of environmental justice has gained growing attention in scientific and political discussions. Environmental justice generally means that everyone—regardless of social markers such as race, sexual orientation, gender, cultural background, or income— should have the same access to environmental protections and benefits, as well as meaningful involvement in decision-making. More and more, different actors such as citizens, NGOs, governments and companies meet in legal spheres to negotiate redress for environmental injustices. Thus, legal processes constitute one of the most visible sites for political tensions involving contemporary socio-ecological challenges. Bringing a case to court requires the articulation and recognition of caused environmental injustices, the assignment of responsibility, and the establishment of appropriate measures to redress harm. Thus, these processes withhold the opportunity of formal and public recognition of multiple knowledge systems, values and rights.
From November 15 to 17, 2023, the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS) hosted a workshop that contributed to the topic with a spotlight on the juridification and judicialization of environmental politics. The workshop, titled "The Politics of Legal Processes to Redress Environmental Injustices from Contested Natural Resource Governance,” was organized by the University of Freiburg-based researchers Cristina Espinosa, Rike Sinder, and Zabrina Welter. The event was a collaborative effort under the umbrella of the Young Academy for Sustainability Research (YAS), sponsored by the Eva-Mayr-Stihl Foundation.
As it is characteristic of the YAS, the researchers of the workshop came from different disciplines like Anthropology, Geography, International Relations, Law, and Political Science, exploring various intriguing topics. From the epistemic authority in court cases championing non-anthropocentric rights in Ecuador to the criminalization of climate activists in Switzerland, and from the emergence of human rights for the Anthropocene in Europe to the contestation over the "ecocide" crime in various parts of the world, the workshop provided a wide range of perspectives.
The diversity of subjects addressed also included the genealogy and enactment of river rights in Colombia, the strategic litigation landscape in Indonesia, the legal geography of territorialization dynamics among Black communities in Colombia, and the challenges posed by international trade law to environmental participation rights in Mexico and Guatemala, among others.
Recognizing the workshop's significant academic contributions, the organizers of the workshop are planning a multidisciplinary publication project to amplify the reach of these valuable insights.
