“Today is a special day. It is a special day where we remember the planet, and we remind ourselves why it is important to protect the planet,” said Jennifer Mike, Ph.D.
On Earth Day this year, the Environmental Fellows Program hosted Mike for the Earth Day talk, “Constitutional Environmental Rights in the Anthropocene: From Aspiration to Accountability.”
Mike is a scholar and advocate who specializes in international law, human rights, environmental law, gender studies and public health law. She is currently a visiting Global Studies Fellow and the Hampton and Esther Boswell Distinguished University Professor of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies at DePauw University.
“This is a girl who stood before the Supreme Court and made one single argument. The government was allowing activities that were slowly killing her,” said Mike.
As a scholar who studies the intersection between constitutional law and the right to a healthy environment, Mike started her talk with a story of a 17-year-old girl who sued the Dutch government for their inaction on climate change.
Using her case as an example, she encouraged the audience that “if there’s anything I wanted to take away from this lecture, it’s the fact that it lies within you to act. You can act as an individual, you can act collectively as a group. You can act within your community, you can start small.”
However, she raised concern that “there is still a gap between what the Constitution has promised and what the people continue to experience.” For instance, 99% of the world population breathes air that fails to meet the World Health Organization (WHO) quality guidelines and standards, and about 7 million people die each year prematurely because of poor air quality, even though 156 countries have recognized the environment as a subject of protection.
To close this gap, she shared her knowledge of drafting a strong constitutional provision that ensures the right to a healthy environment. According to Mike, strong enforceability is especially crucial.
She introduced a case in Nigeria — where she is from — as an example. In Nigeria, the constitution recognizes environmental protection. However, when some individuals filed a lawsuit against the Nigerian government and the oil industries for activities causing severe harm to the environment and food. The case was rejected because the right was not enforceable under the constitution and could not be implemented.
In addition, she claimed that the strong constitution must recognize future generations as well as nature, having exclusive rights independent of human rights. Mike mentioned cases in Ecuador and Colombia in which they declared legal rights to nature as examples.
Before the lecture ended, she touched on several issues in the current situation around constitutional environmental rights, such as speed problems — litigation takes years, but climate change will not wait — and global accountability — that we need more progress on a global level.
She concluded the lecture by calling for individual action.
“156 countries have written the right to breathe into law. But the atmosphere does not read the constitution. We are the ones that have the duty to ensure that the constitution works. And so, I say that only we can make the constitution work. Happy Earth Day,” Mike concluded.
After she put the microphone down, loud applause filled the Wallace-Stewart Commons at Hoover Hall. Mike’s talk brought a better understanding of how the constitution can work to ensure a healthy environment for everyone and also motivated students and faculty to take action.
