Event overview
No Future for Future Generations: Who is International Environmental Law for?
No Future for Future Generations: Who is International Environmental Law for? with Dr Emily Jones, Newcastle University
The idea that the environment must be protected for future generations has been gaining traction in recent years. This paper argues that the concept of future generations, as deployed in international environmental law is, however, deeply exclusionary, with only some humans being envisaged as future generations, these exclusions being marked by gender, race, class and ableism. It is furthermore argued that the concept is anthropocentric in that it focuses only on human future generations. The paper discusses whether the concept can be recast considering these critiques, deploying queer and decolonial approaches to do so. In particular, Indigenous understandings of future generations are highlighted as offering an alternative framing. The paper concludes by arguing that legal concepts must be carefully designed to ensure the construction of a future whereby climate change and environmental degradation are addressed in an equitable and just way, providing three pathways that can be used to begin to reframe the concept of future generations accordingly.
Dates & times
| Date | Time | Add to calendar |
|---|---|---|
| 13 May 2025 |
1:30pm - 2:30pm This is a hybrid event and the link will be shared shortly before the date with registered participants |
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