Author ORCID Identifier

Dayna Scott: 0000-0003-3992-8642

Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

2024

Source Publication

Debora L. VanNijnatten (ed.) Canadian Environmental Policy & Practice: Moving the Green Transition Forward, 5th ed, Oxford University Press, 2024, 107-125.

Keywords

just transition; extractivism; environmental law and policy; environmental law; green economy

Abstract

The environmental justice movement, which turns our attention to fairness in the distribution of environmental benefits and burdens and in the processes, biases and
structures that determine those distributions, is challenging the foundations of environmental law.
• ‘Extractivism’ – a mode of accumulation that necessitates both a high pace and a large scale of taking of natural resources such as fossil fuels – is deeply embedded in environmental law, producing uneven costs/benefits and intense, concentrated impacts on people and ecosystems. Even as we move towards a greener economy, environmental laws and regulations governing such areas as facility siting, pollution permitting, and
environmental/impact assessment continue to apply extractivist logics.
• As Indigenous peoples assert inherent jurisdiction over lands and waters, debates continue over the legal and practical standards of ‘consent’ required in relation to projects on or crossing Indigenous lands and waters. Moreover, regimes for achieving Indigenous ‘prosperity’ through natural resource development are moving from impact-benefit agreements, to equity stakes deals and joint ventures, and towards inherent jurisdiction.
• Environmental law for a just transition must prioritize equity and Indigenous jurisdiction, and work to re-make the underlying legal and structural relations of production and consumption by moving away from ‘extractivism.’

Download

Request a copy that is accessible using assistive technology (link opens in a new window)

Share

COinS