Relativity of Environmental Rights:On Justification of Purposive Environmental Rights

Environmental rights in the early days,as a product of the combination of environmental crises and the ideas of human rights,had a tendency toward being considered absolute.Absolute environmental rights are of enlightening significance in the context of“existing problems in the absence of a system.”However,absolute environmental rights only consider environmental protection while excluding social and economic interests,and therefore cannot be exercised in legal practice.Legal practice now recognizes relative environmental rights that coordinate environmental protection and social and economic development.Given the ambiguous content of environmental rights,it is inappropriate to use external restrictions,and only internal restrictions can be applied.The content of environmental rights should be changed to take into account social and economic factors,and the inevitable result of the change is the shift from absolute environmental rights to relative environmental rights.The legislative purpose of environmental laws in various countries is the dualism of purpose that coordinates environmental protection with social and economic development.The dualism of purpose dovetails with relative environmental rights,and environmental rights should be positioned as purposive environmental rights in environmental law.

Constitutional Environmental Rights: An Investigation and Analysis Based on Constitutional Texts of All Countries

Although the academic community still has some theoretical divergences on whether environmental rights should be a basic human right or a basic constitutional one, there are an increasing number of countries including this right in their constitution. Based on the constitutions in 193 countries, this paper aims to examine the fundamental situation of incorporating environmental rights into a constitution. It has been concluded that environmental protection as a right is written into a constitution in three aspects, namely, as a constitutional right, a civic duty, and a national policy, principle or social goal. Through summarizing these, this paper argues that including environmental rights in a country’s constitution is the means by which all citizens shall enjoy a good, healthy, sustainable and harmonious environment suitable for their development, have timely and comprehensive access to reliable information about environment, participate in making public decisions related to the environment, and ask for legal remedies and compensation for any infringement on their environmental rights, or injury or damage to their environmental property. But even after environmental rights are incorporated into a constitution, there may be theoretical and practical difficulties in their implementation.

Unit Environmental Property Rights: Efficiency, Responsibility and System

The inexplicit efficiency of environmental property rights lies in its fuzziness. Based on the character of environmental property rights discussed, unit environment shows intra relationship between efficiency and duty of environmental property rights, and constructs a symmetrical system arrangement. Through analyzing the possibility and feasibility of unit environmental property rights, the significance of symmetrical system arrangement to avoid the inexplicit efficiency of environmental property rights is discussed in this dissertation from the aspect of the validity of offering and implementing system.

The Impact of Central Environmental Inspections on the Perception of Respect for Human Rights and Its Empirical Analysis

To develop China’s human rights cause with a people-centered approach,we should pay close attention to the concrete experiences of the general public regarding the protection of human rights.Deepening the research on the perception of respect for human rights can contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the practical achievements of the hu man rights cause.Public environmental rights,as a new type of human rights,have become an important aspect of the development of the human rights cause in the new era.The central envi ronmental inspection,as an authoritative and interventionist vertical governance mechanism,promotes the implementation of environmental policies by local Party committees and govern ments and strengthens environmental information disclosure and public participation in environ mental matters.As a result,it contributes to the realization of public environmental rights and stimulates public perception of respect for human rights.Among them,the“look-back inspec tion is an important component of the central environmental inspection,and its implemen tation consolidates and enhances the previous inspection work.An empirical analysis based on the World Values Survey’s data for China indicates that residents in the provinces that have underg one“look-back inspections are more inclined to believe that human rights are adequately re spected compared to residents in the provinces that have not underwent such inspections.It suggests that the advancement and improvement of the central environmental inspection system promote improvements in ecological environment quality and contribute to enhancing the public percep tion of respect for human rights.

On the Construction and Application Scenarios of——Analysis of Environmental Personality Interests Based on Human Rights

Environmental personality interests based on human rights reflect the multiple values of ecological order,ecological justice,and ecological freedom,and are closely linked to the protection of the right to life and the right to health.They are also related to human dignity and the personal freedom of civil subjects and conform to formal and essential standards of personality rights,which should be included in the scope of personality rights for protection.The construction and application of environmental personality rights faces bottlenecks such as the partiality of subjects,limitation of objects,and hysteresis of responsibilities in the protection of environmental personality rights.Environmental personality rights are supposed to reflect the needs of the development of modern human rights.We should expand the scope of its connotative power and function based on the Green Principle of the Civil Code,and follow a networked,typified,and systematic path of protection,so as to manifest the people-centered philosophy of the Civil Code and the Environmental Protection Law.

Challenges and Countermeasures for Integrating the Protection of Environmental Rights into Actions for Addressing Climate Change

Climate change,which is the result of human activities,has wide-ranging impact.It poses a serious threat to human rights.Environmental rights are where the protection of the ecological environment and the development of human rights intersect.In view of the close relationship between the actions for addressing climate change and environmental rights,China should integrate the protection of environmental rights into the actions for addressing climate change,so as to achieve simultaneous development of both.In the process of coping with climate change,the right to climate stability that mainly pursues a“harmless”environment and the right to a more livable climate that pursues a“beautiful eco-environment”are specific manifestations of environmental rights and should be the priority of protection efforts.However,there are still some obstacles to achieving the coordinated development of the efforts to address climate change and the protection of environmental rights because traditional rights protection methods mainly give individuals subjective rights with the power to claim and are thus difficult to meet the needs of environmental rights protection in the context of climate change,and there are inherent value differences between responding to climate change and the realization of other human rights.Building a multi-level national obligation system to address climate change,giving full play to the role of courts in responding to climate change through moderate judicial activism,and coordinating the efforts to cope with climate change and the development of human rights under the guidance of a holistic system view are effective ways to overcome the aforementioned difficulties.

The Environmental Human Rights under the Perspective of Basic Rights--An Analysis of the dilemma Facing the legalization of environmental Rights

Given the dilemma facing legalization on environmental rights, it is necessary to re-examine the nature and function of environmental human rights under the theoretical system of basic rights. Its justification approach follows a logical chain from a rights-based approach to basic rights. The difficulty in legalizing environmental rights reflects the disputes over the basis for environmental law. Reconstructing the right-based approach in environmental law can justify the rights-oriented path to the environmental rule of law. The basic rights system with human rights as the core can explain the constitutional environmental human rights. As the basic rights not enumerated in the Constitution, the environmental human rights have such functions as the right of self-defense, the right to benefit, and institutional, organizational and procedural guarantees due to its dual nature of subjective right and objective law.

Conflict and Balance Between the Right to Development and Environmental Rights:China's Practice

The right to development,the realization of which is subject to environmental rights,is an inalienable human right The principle of sustainable development is based on the right to development but is a development path designed to protect the environment The fact that environmental rights are not expressly stipulated in international human rights law does not deny its attribute as a human right Therefore,environmental rights and the right to development are equally important,conducive to the realization of human sustainable development through the protection of environmental rights In order to solve the contradiction between economic development and environmental protection in China,it is necessary to earnestly implement the Scientific Outlook on Development under strict judicial control in accordance with the law and to fully protect the public's rights to know concerning environmental information,and encouraging the public's participation in environmental decision-making

The Shaping of Environmental Rights Oriented Toward the “Needs for a Better Life”

With the continuous improvement in the protection of environmental rights in China,the demand for a“more beautiful environment”in the“needs for a better life”should serve as the basis for the formation of environmental rights.Environmental rights oriented toward the“needs for a better life”reflect the legal response to ensure that the environment meets people’s spiritual needs to a certain extent after the environment meets their health needs.Based on the provisions of the general personality rights in China’s Civil Code and related judicial practice,a legal normative interpretation of environmental rights oriented toward the“needs for a better life”can be established.At the theoretical level,the boundary of environmental rights should be determined by taking the obligation to tolerate as the bottom line.In the identification and protection of environmental rights in relevant judicial practices,factors such as the protection of reasonable expectations and the inertia of people’s perceptions of the environment should be fully considered with judicial discretion to render the positioning of judicial protection reasonable based on taking the obligation to tolerate as the bottom line.

Promoting the Common Development of Education and Protection of Environmental Rights

Environmental fights are im- portant fights that have been written into fundamental hu- man rights since the 1970s. With economic globalization and sci- entific and technological progress, it is more and more important to educate and protect environmental rights world- wide. As a large developing country, China has significant responsibilities in the field of global environmental safety. However, the awareness and status of environmental rights protection are still not suited to people＇s demands for environmental rights, making it an important task to carry out scientific planning and environmental rights edu- cation and improve citizens＇ enjoyment of environmental rights. We propose to start from defining the constitutional status of environmental rights and pro- mote the education and protection of environmental rights at the same time, so as to enhance mutual influence and contribute to creating a good environ- ment for mankind.

Addressing Japan’s disposal of nuclear-contaminated water from the perspective of international human rights law

The discharge of nuclear-contaminated water containing radionuclides into the ocean by Japan will lead to its integration into the entire ecosystem through processes of circulation and biomagnification,eventually entering the human body via the food chain.This poses a substantial risk of irreversible damage to both the ecosystem and human health,a situation that will worsen with the ongoing discharge of such water.The respect and protection of human rights represent an international consensus,and safeguarding fundamental human rights is a substantial obligation that states must undertake in accordance with both international and domestic law.Since the Fukushima nuclear disaster,Japan has continuously violated its international legal obligations to protect human rights in several areas,including the resettlement of disaster victims,the reduction of nuclear radiation levels,and the handling of contaminated water.Such actions have compromised and will continue to compromise the basic human rights of not only its citizens but also those of people worldwide,including environmental rights,the right to life,development rights,and food rights.In the aftermath of the Fukushima meltdown,the public and workers involved in handling nuclear contaminants have been continually exposed to high radiation levels,endangering their rights to life,development,and health.Japan’s inadequate efforts in victim resettlement and environmental restoration have jeopardized the environmental and food rights of its citizens to live healthily and access food in an environment unaffected by nuclear radiation.The release of nuclear-contaminated water poses a risk of Japan’s nuclear pollution to the people of neighboring countries and the global population at large.The principle of human rights underpins the theory of a community with a shared future for humanity,and human rights are a crucial area of China’s active participation in United Nations affairs and global governance.By voicing concerns over Japan’s potential human rights violations globally,China demonstrates its role as a responsible major country.In response to Japan’s breach of legal obligations and human rights violations,China can adopt a reasoned and beneficial approach,including calling on the international community to hold Japan criminally accountable for crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute and advancing scholarly discussions on ecocide and crimes against the marine environment.Furthermore,China should persist in seeking advisory opinions from the International Court of Justice and strive for substantive accountability,utilizing the mechanisms of international human rights organizations to make its voice heard.

Environmental and Climate Justice in Palestine

To have a clean, safe, and functional environment is not only essential for the purpose of preservation, but also imperative for safeguarding the most fundamental of human rights. Resolution 45/94 of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly also stresses and acknowledges that: “all individuals are entitled to live in an environment adequate for their health and wellbeing” (United Nations Digital Library System, 1991). Environmental and climate justice, which: “emerged in the context of the local environmental struggles of directly oppressed groups”, is a global movement dedicated to ensuring equal protection of people’s human rights (i.e., water, health, life, etc.) in the face of the climate crisis. Moreover, health, environment and human rights are part of the 2030 agenda (in particular, SDG 1, SDG 5, SDG 6, SDG 7, SDG 13, SDG 16, SDG 17). Individually, both environmental and climate justice are rooted in an intersectional outlook, by which they highlight the common threads between communities and the people’s inclusion, irrespective of race, class, or gender, in the pursuit of justice. On the other hand, they recognise and acknowledge the role and consequences of climate change in economic, social, and political dimensions;thus, drawing emphasis on the rights of people under the emerging inequities. In the case of Palestine, the Palestinian community is increasingly becoming vulnerable to these effects and the resulting inequalities of climate change. This vulnerability stems from: 1) The right to life;clean WASH;equitable work opportunities;access to resources;and free movement;are all examples of human rights that the Israeli colonial regime infringes upon;2) Infrastructure is essential for climate adaptation: 61% of the West Bank is ultimately barred from building infrastructure (B’Tselem, 2019) and Gaza Strip has major gaps in infrastructure due to intentional destruction by Israel;3) Palestinian deprivation of the sovereign right to natural resources by Israel;4) Apartheid system in water accessibility: Israeli water usage per person is over three times higher than that of Palestinians (their usage is under the WHO recommended minimum per day) (B’Tselem, 2023);and 5) Violent settler attacks. In 2022 alone, the Applied Research Institute-Jerusalem (ARIJ) recorded 1527 settler attacks that targeted land, properties, livestock, agriculture and even Palestinian civilians. The ongoing neglect of these concerns and the persistent colonization of Palestine by Israel unequivocally and unwaveringly affect the human rights of Palestinians. The power dynamics at play especially hamper the Palestinian ability to exercise and fulfill their inalienable human rights and to tackle the obstacles to justice in their environment.

Study on the Definition and Allocation of the Rights to Water Utilization in the Ecological Environment

With the rapid development of population and economy, the conflict between the supply and demand of water resources is becoming outstanding increasingly, In China, many people concern about the problems of ecological environment water expenditure.However, owning to the shortage of water resources and indefinite water rights, “the hustle effect” of per capita water resource is appeared, Moreover. it caused a series of environment problems. This article differentiates and analyzes the relevant concepts about the ecological enviromnent, and puts forward the defined concept of the rights to the ecological environment water utilization. In addition, it points out the characteristic of those rights, and does elementary study on the allocation principle, methods, and steps on the rights.

Analysis on Ecological Personality Right--In the Perspective of Environmental Personality Right

This essay focuses on expanding the traditional theory of personality right and referring to the outside legislative cases in order to promote environmental information disclosure,the purpose,therefore is to realize the ecological personality right.

Relations between Environmental Right for Citizens and the Right to Use Environmental Resources owned by Company and Enterprise

From angles of administrative law and private law, the article analyzes relations between environmental right for citizens and the right to use environmental resources owned by company and enterprise and points out three principles to balancing two relations: A principle of equal protection, a principle that general interest is superior to special interest as well as taking an account for special interest, in specific circumstances, for example, in the circumstance that clashes between environmental and economic interests can not be avoided, policy makers can put an emphasis on more important social interest according after considering weight of each interest. Finally, the article reaches a conclusion that China should establish system of environmental right for citizens from legislative and administrative levels so that a harmonious society can be constructed with guarantee.

On the Expansion and Realization of the Right to Environmental Information in Environmental Protection Supervision

As an innovation in the environmental governance system that breaks the traditional hierarchical structure,environmental protection supervision has not only played a significant role in protecting tangible environmental rights but also expanded the basic scope of the right to environmental information—part of procedural environmental rights.In the supervision of environmental protection,the objects of the right to environmental information and the subjects of the obligation to provide environmental information have been both expanded,with the focus shifting from government information to Party information and from administrative organs to Party organs.This vividly demonstrates the Communist Party of China’s concrete efforts to protect human rights in the field of the endeavor to build an ecological civilization.At present,the realization of the right to environmental information in environmental protection supervision still faces problems such as insufficient standards and norms,disordered practice and operation,and lack of liability guarantee.In this context,based on renewing relevant subjects’cognition of the right to know in environmental protection supervision,we should further improve and specify the rule for disclosing information about environmental protection supervision,rationally distribute the obligations for information disclosure in environmental protection supervision,and clarify the accountability rules for violating relevant requirements for information disclosure,so as to promote the overall development of the environmental protection supervision system while guaranteeing the realization of the right to environmental information.

The Protection of Human Rights in the Construction of Barrier-free Environment--Viewed from the perspective of the Marxist Human Rights Concept

The construction of a barrier-free environment contains a rich connotation of human rights protection,and is closely related to the study of human rights protection in China.With the evolution of the concept of barrier-free design and the expansion of its beneficiary groups,constructing a barrier-free environment has become a basic task that benefits all members of society and meets the public needs of all the people,with its core goal expanding from the protection of the rights of the disabled to the protection of the basic rights and interests of all members of society.Building a barrier-free environment from the perspective of the Marxist human rights concept is conducive to safeguarding the people’s right to subsistence and development,and at the same time,it satisfies their demand for the right to pursue a high-quality and better life and reflects the common vision of everyone in society fully enjoying human rights.promoting the construction of a barrier-free environment in terms of legal protection based on China’s institutional advantages can improve and innovate the country’s legislation on the construction of a barrier-free environment,so as to play an exemplary and guiding role in enhancing the international barrier-free level and enable all people to enjoy the good life created through the drive to build a barrier-free environment.

The Idea of“Codification”of Human Rights to Environment

As China has embarked on a new journey to comprehensively build a modern socialist country and marches toward the Second Centenary Goal,improving the protection of human rights in environmental protection has become a key task to meet people's growing demand for a better life.The international community has reached a consensus on the human rights attribute of environmental rights,and China has also recognized it in its National Human Rights Action Plan of China(2021-2025).Early claims for environmental human rights gave birth to modern environmental law at the international level,while the global consensus on sustainable development promoted the new development of environmental human rights.In China,the construction of a"beautiful China"has become the national goal confirmed by the Constitution.The confirmation of environmental rights in the planned environmental code can further clarify the connotation of the value system of the code and help clarify the institutional structure and attribution logic of the code.Based on the subjective right and objective value of environmental rights,the specific scheme for the"codification"of environment rights is to construct the system from three levels of ontological provision,guarantee provision and reliefprovision.

Optimize the Environment for Human Rights Development and Boost Sustainable Human Rights Development

Human rights are not isolated; rather, they are human rights situated in the soci- ety, the network interwoven with economy, politics, society, culture and so on, and human rights protection has to depend upon certain interior and exterior environments and institutional arrangement. As early as in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights has pointed out, ＂Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.＂ The realization of human rights not only involves the claim to rights themselves,

Building a Sustainable Environment for Human Rights Development; Earnestly Respecting and Ensuring Human Rights

Constructing an environ- ment for human rights development is a large, comprehensive project as well asa long and arduous mission. Although constructing an environment for human rights development was not mentioned much in the past, in actuality it began early and achieved sustained progress. It is a gradual process that is also a prerequisite for earnestly respecting and ensuring human rights. There are five dimensions to building a sustainable environment for human rights development.