The Strait Of Environmental Human Rights

Environmental human rights are a novel problem solving perspective when human survival and development are under threat of environmental crises. It is still based on humanism, and human beings are the main body that has rational, intrinsic value and moral status. But the emergence and development process of environmental human rights is not only influenced by environmental ethics, but also challenged by traditional human rights, environmental justice, material civilization, government mechanism and even legal system. This paper argues that, despite environmental human rights are faced with many straits, if we can offer effectively solutions, it will provide good academic basis for environmental management and the realization of environmental justice.This paper tries to put forward questions - analyze them– solve them for writing structure, and what is divided into four parts.The first part is mainly the longitudinal and transverse definition of environmental human rights. Firstly,beginning with the introduction of historical development of western human rights, and the basic views about current theoretical circles for environmental human rights. Western human rights originated from natural law and natural rights at the earliest, and when it was in the 15th century, human rights theories gradually expanded across Europe, and then Renaissance period was into climax. With the slogan of freedom and equality, humanitarian and theory of human nature which was based on blazon forth, became the first theories of human rights. If these thoughts supported the reason why human beings should have their rights, and"natural rights"and"social contract theory"in the seventeenth century put forward by Bourgeois thinkers would connect inalienable and common human rights with the social practical life. Since then, the practice of human rights became globalization gradually. So far, human beings became the purpose but the means. Human rights are rooted in people's interest demand, which is directly related to the survival and fundamental interests of live in this society safely. The emergence of global environmental crisis in the 20th century is the humans'new problems. In order to solve it, human beings created new rights named environment human rights. With the help of a doctor's actual actions in the federal republic of Germany and "Tokyo declaration", environment and human rights were considered officially in form together in the《Stockholm declaration of human environment》, and accepted by most countries in the world widely with the name of environment rights.Moreover, because environmental human rights is a modern word, it was proposed for global environmental crisis, and currently popular ecological ethics emerged of solving global environmental crisis, and so they have the same theory of background. The author tries to seek more breakthrough point to link them, for the purpose of more fully understanding environmental human rights. The aim of Environmental human rights and ecological ethics both are environmental protection, but them have different research subject: environmental human rights makes human beings as the main body of research, because human beings is the only one who has talent rational and morality, and the power of transformation world; when ecological ethics expands its research field from human centralism to non-human centralism, and emphasizes that the nature and humans have equal moral status. Although environmental human rights and ecological ethics make diversity in research object, and them both value the importance of nature, only emphasized by different argument way.The second part, the author will comprehensively and systematically summarize various straits about environmental human rights with traditional human rights, environmental justice, legal system, material civilization and political decision.Firstly, although environmental human rights came from traditional human rights and they produced great contradiction in human society. Environmental human rights were produced in order to resolve global environmental crises, and its purpose is to stop the earth's environment destruction and protect the environment for the good state. Ever human rights was based on the use of environment resources, whether right of life and liberty or right of subsistence and development, anyone of them was inseparable from human rights to exploitation and utilization of environmental resources, but every exploitation activity can have devastating effects on the earth's environment. When his destructive impact is accumulated to a certain degree and produces environmental damage, and it will cause harm to all social persons. As long as life lives on earth, people will endless various demand for the nature , because humans'decent lives all rely on the supply of the nature, and humans'life is constantly affect the natural ecological environment, in addition this influence of degree aggravates increasingly as the increasing of population and the development of science and technology, and finally go beyond the bearing capacity of the ecological system itself, with causing environmental damage and making damage to environment human rights.Secondly, whether approving of the development of environmental human rights can truly achieve environmental justice, the contradiction between humans and nature has been the key of ecological ethics. Environmental justice is referred to the kind of interstate justice between the humanity and nature; also referred to all subject should have equal rights of enjoying environmental resources and cleaning environment without being limited for resources and adverse environmental, and the most important is referred to the unity of enjoying the environmental rights and assuming the obligations of environmental protection. So in accordance with the characteristic of environmental human rights that pointing at rights only, and ecological ethics is in reference on the view of humans and nature being equally important, only advocating environmental rights is not really realizing environmental justice.Thirdly, the present law of international human rights and other laws also produced a large resistance for the realization of environmental human rights. Although the law of international human rights and many domestic laws all have formally regulation of human rights, and the legislation in vague and the words lack of obligation and legal force will seriously weaken the current laws'valid of stipulating environment human rights and other human rights. Many legal terms have announced the environment human rights, but all of them are the summary of objective statement, rather than the legalization in the execution or specification for detailed environments standard. Thus, such legal documents is to become the protection environment of human rights have practical significance to the means.Fourthly, the development of human material civilization is the main root of environmental human rights'appearance and prosperity, and the solution for economic development and environmental protection needs our serious thinking. Economic supremacy is always the core value of the political, judicial, social and other areas, and it will be the biggest obstacle to realize environmental human rights undoubtedly. Although modern material civilization, especially the capitalist economy has obtained great achievements, but if the dominant value in current human society has not changed, humans will go on destroying their survival ecological environment all the time, and eventually leading to human beings' own destruction. Finally, the policies mechanism of modern government and states is also disadvantageous to the realization of environmental human rights. Although modern government claims that it will put environment construction and human rights protection as important bases in decision-making, but the practical operation of government mainly depends on economic strength such as enterprise, so for the enterprise's economic growth and efficiency, political decision still makes economic efficiency instead of ecological benefits as the center standards. Because present political mechanism serves for economic interests or service, and the advocate of environmental human rights and environmental justice are still not realized,or it means that environmental human rights have degenerated into the opportunity cost of government decision-makingThe third part, combining with the current conditions of environment and the development of environment human rights in China, the author tries to reveal the obstacles existed in environment human rights. Since late 1970's, because China's economy is developing quickly and the environmental problems of developed countries in their industrialization process also appears in China, and the contradiction between environment and development has become outstanding. The relative shortage of resources, weak ecological environment and lack of environmental capacity gradually become the major issues in China's development. Facing the increasingly serious problems of environmental and ecological deterioration, government, academia and various social organizations all have took effective measures to improve ecological environment and promote the development of environmental human rights. Although China's environmental protection has obtained several achievements, but also is facing the huge obstacles and resistance: first, China's large population pressure will cause certain challenge for the development of environmental human rights (the huge population pressure itself is the very heavy burden for environment; population is so much that makes environmental popularization difficulty). Second, long-term pursuing of economic development in China, and paying rare attention to environment, which has caused ecological deterioration deepened ceaselessly. Third, the main responsibility of environmental destruction——companies'social responsibility is not strong, and their consciousness of environmental protection is missing. Fourth, the development of citizen's movement in China lags behind, and advocating environmental protection of organizations and non-governmental organizations'force and influence are weak.The fourth part, as the end of this paper, aiming at the various plights of environmental human rights, the author tries to put forward several feasible solutions. One of the most important considerations is avoiding the influence of government's decision-making and legal contents by economic rationality, in addition we should improve people's acceptation of environmental human rights, and thereby environmental justice would be realized in human economic, political and social practice's fields. The author considers that any an academic study is not only posing questions, but also trying to solve problems, and if so it will have the practical value.