Abstract:
Whilst action against climate change requires undoubtedly internationally coordinated efforts, treaties often suffer from a lack of concrete justiciability and immediate effects. Thus, constitutional law presents – by its place in the legal hierarchy and its jurisdictional protection – several qualities that have favoured its use to back up efforts to fight climate change and adapt to the latter’s consequences. The present article aims to give a comprehensive overview of the different ways environmental constitutionalism has developed in different legal systems worldwide – from explicit legal provisions to judges’ efforts to recognize implicit constitutional values to environmental rights. It also mentions the challenges environmental constitutionalism faces, especially in regards to an often-times insufficiently precise legal framework and in regards to the dependency on bold judgements, which requires reliance on strong constitutional courts capable of imposing clear obligations for public policy and a meaningful liability for failure to adopt those.
