“What are the direct and indirect links between the environment and human rights?” With this thought-provoking question, Prof. Ravi Rajan started his lecture on the theory of environmental human rights. He is Olga T. Griswold Chair and a Professor of Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz.
Human rights and environmental rights are two phrases that have been the center of many serious discussions. However, when we try to interrelate the two concepts, we understand that the quality of the environment is a question of fairness, justice, and a concern of basic human rights. Prof. Ravi Rajan gave a note-worthy explanation on what can be called the environmental basis of poverty, along with the environmental rights of citizens as well as the environmental obligations of the state.
The lecture was structured around three keywords: sustenance (the absence of a ‘good’ environment), security (the presence of a ‘bad’ environment) and suffrage (the inability of various democratic institutions and structures to provide voice to the marginalized to make decisions about the future of their environment).
Sustenance as a concept focuses on ecologically fragile systems and the survival of marginalized people. For instance, how issues such as soil erosion, salinity, water logging, ground water exploitation, and climate change affect the poor and marginalized communities. When ecological collapse occurs, it exacerbates poverty because they most acutely impact poor people who directly depend on ecosystem services. In this case, it becomes a challenge to design locally viable, socio-economically and ecologically adaptive systems to protect the livelihoods of the poor who depend on the environment. Aspects of environment and gender equity fall under the realm of sustenance. The increase in time and energy that women spend in fuel, fodder and water collection (in an ecologically degraded environment) affects their health and nutrition intake, which in turn leads to deskilling, lesser income and erosion of social support networks. It is necessary to map the gender-class impacts of environmental destruction, so as to invest in transitions to new economics based on socio-economic and ecological conditions. The absence of a good environment requires systematic development, displacement and rehabilitation. Displacement also worsens poverty by making people’s social and economic life worse. This demands a comprehensive rehabilitation and resettlement planning in policy making agendas, by particularly focusing on the social, economic, and cultural impacts on the marginalized and poor sections of the society.
Presence of a bad environment refers to the risks associated with a degraded environment. An unhealthy environment creates a significant difference in the morbidity due to exposure to sources of pollution. It is important to note that poor people are more exposed to these particulates as well. Hence, it is crucial to build infrastructure and expertise to address acute, chronic and emergent disasters. Expertise could be in various forms: contingent, conceptual, ethnographic, and adaptive. All of which should be a part of bureaucracy and government institutions.
The concept of suffrage revolves around the denial of a voice to the marginalized communities in the decision-making concerning their environment. The absence of representation, participation and consultation demands institutional solutions to ensure freedom and agency for the poor and women. It also becomes necessary to create dialogic opportunities to mold new paradigms about development, plurality and diversity. This is especially necessary when there is destruction of lifestyles, spiritual worlds, and fundamental cosmologies that define the very essence of human communities.
In short, a framework on environmental human rights deals with these three aspects of sustenance, security and suffrage rights. Sustenance rights comprise of gender rights, the rights to ecologically viable systems and the rights to livelihood including culturally appropriate rehabilitation alternatives. Security rights acknowledge the right to a safe living environment, rights to expertise and functional institutions, rights of accountability and redress. Rights to information,participation, representation, and rights of plurality and diversity form the basis of suffrage rights. Each of these rights are important either to have a minimum level of survival of people or to realize the capabilities of human beings.
Prof Ravi Rajan’s talk left us with an important question to ponder: Do we have the capacity to provide a voice to people who are forced to live in a bad environment?
—Edited by Lakshmi Yazhini | Design by Alphin Tom
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