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The Right to Environment

The development and formal recognition of the right to environment as a human right under international law has been the object of intense debate for well over fifty years. In 1995, approximately halfway into this period, Gunther Handl published a frequently cited article dismissing the existence and need for a human right to environment. A few years later, I wrote an article rebutting Handl’s analysis and conclusions on the matter and proposing a more progressive or modern approach to the sources doctrine under international law. In his most recent work on the human right to environment (included as a chapter in this book), Handl restates most of the arguments raised in his prior article. In an effort to summarise the substance of the debate on the right to environment, I will briefly outline arguments generally used by those rejecting the existence and international recognition of the human right to environment, as well as counter-arguments previously raised to rebut the same.