Ecological Law and the Planetary Crisis: A Legal Guide for Harmony on Earth

Description

This book uses a transdisciplinary systems approach to examine how Earth’s human-caused ecological crisis arose and presents a new legal approach for overcoming it. Ecological Law and the Planetary Crisis first examines how the history of humanity’s social metabolism, along with the history of human inventions and ideas, led to the human-Earth dilemma we see today and explains why contemporary law is inadequate for confronting this dilemma. The book goes on to propose ecological law―law that maintains human activity within ecological limits such as planetary boundaries while ensuring social justice and equity―as an essential element of an urgently needed radical pathway of change toward a perpetual, mutually enhancing human-Earth relationship. Finally, it offers a systems-based analytical tool for organizing actions to promote the transition from environmental to ecological law. Increasing the visibility, clarity and development of ecological law, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars of ecological and environmental law and governance. Dedication Contents List of tables Acknowledgments List of abbreviations Introduction Part I: The role of law in the rise of the global ecological crisis 1 The Anthropocene as a frame of reference 2 The human dilemma in the Anthropocene 3 Energy transitions in history and their impacts 4 How conceptual factors like law helped lead to the Anthropocene Part II: The failure of environmental law to respect key ecological limits 5 An overview of the failures of environmental law 6 Key examples of the inadequacy of environmental law Part III: Ecological law: systems-based rules for a flourishing Earth 7 What is ecological law? 8 A mutually enhancing human-Earthrelationship as the primary goal for law 9 The systems-basedperspective underlying ecological law 10 The limits-insistentnarrative and planetary boundaries 11 Eleven core features of ecological law 12 Ecological integrity and attachment to place in ecological law Part IV: Getting from environmental to ecological law 13 A systems-basedguide for moving from environmental to ecological law 14 Overcoming ecological challenges of international trade: an illustration Part V: Degrowth and ecological law 15 The degrowth movement as a testing ground for ecological law Index