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Although a single universal vision of justice may not be possible, necessary or even desirable, it is viable to distinguish different conceptions of justice that have informed societies. Also, while it may be impossible to agree on what precisely amounts to justice, it is a whole lot easier to recognize injustice. In sum, there is every reason to hope that by discussing justice we may come to agree on basic baselines informing just societies.

But why would we invest our time and energy in such an endeavor? Isn’t the evidence overwhelmingly that talk of justice often is gratuitous, and that the language of raw power speaks louder than that of justice? And why worry about environmental justice? One persuasive reply is that injustice is a source of pain and suffering, that anyone is a potential victim of injustice, and that therefore it is in all our best interest to craft societies that we think are ‘just’.

The unfolding ecological catastrophe undeniably is a source of unspeakable injustice, now and in the future. Even if we ignore the capacity of non-humans to feel pain and pleasure, then climate disasters, forest fires, water scarcity, toxic waste and atmospheric pollution should still command our full attention.

How will we divide increasingly scarce natural resources on which human life depends (water, air, food, energy, biodiversity etc.)? How to deal with the fact that some nations that so clearly have contributed to and benefited from the exploitation of nature most, are suffering least? Can we think of ways to give future generations and non-humans a voice when we start answering these questions?

Along these lines, the course addresses distributive, procedural and substantive themes of environmental justice, frameworks and instruments of environmental governance. Discussions cover the Aarhus Convention, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Nagoya Protocol, EU environmental directives, and emerging corporate due diligence requirements. We explore pertinent questions of climate justice, bio-justice, hydro-justice, global value chains and a just transition. In addition, procedural mechanisms for achieving Environmental Justice are discussed, including environmental impact assessments, the precautionary principle, and rights to access to information, meaningful participation and justice in environmental matters.

Course content

This is a course in law at advanced level. The course is divided into several modules. The course will give the students an understanding of the history and overview of environmental justice. Key concepts such as biodiversity and global supply chains will be discussed and used within the course. The students will get an understanding of why, when and where the development of environmental justice begun.

The students will get familiar with specific areas of law, including various conventions and other documents within international law. This will enable the students’ understanding of established law and its applicability. Furthermore, the course aims to illustrate bilateral agreements and other forms of cooperation. If you want to take part in a critical and multi-faceted discussion about environmental justice, then this course is for you. We look forward to seeing you there!

Course design

The course objectives are met through active participation in the education, independent studies of the course material and carrying out obligatory elements of the course.

The course is designed using the “flipped classroom”-model, which means that the lectures are web-based. The web-based lectures are paired with quizzes. Besides this, the student shall hand in four reflective papers and one final paper to obtain a grade.

Environmental Justice consists of 15 credits. It is a full-time course (100% study pace) and is scheduled to require 10 weeks of full studies during summer.