Human Rights and the Environment Under African Union Law

This book brings together original and novel perspectives on major developments in human rights law and the environment in Africa. Focusing on African Union law, the book explores the core concepts and principles, theory and practice, accountability mechanisms and key issues challenging human rights law in the era of global environmental change. It, thus, extend the frontier of understanding in this fundamental area by building on existing scholarship on African human rights law and the protection of the environment, divulging concerns on redressing environmental and human rights protection issues in the context of economic growth and sustainable development. It further offers unique insight into the development, domestication and implementation challenges relating to human rights law and environmental governance in Africa. 

This long overdue interdisciplinary exploration of human rights law and the environment from an African perspective will be an indispensable reference point for academics, policymakers, practitioners and advocates of international human rights and environmental law in particular and international law, environmental politics and philosophy, and African studies in general. It is clear that there is much to do, study and share on this timely subject in the African context.

Michael Addaney is a climate change adaptation law scholar at the Research Institute of Environmental Law, Wuhan University, China, and also affiliated to the Department of Planning and Sustainability at the University of Energy and Natural Resources, Ghana. Michael’s research interests broadly focus on the role of international human rights law in framing and implementing responses to sustainability challenges in sub-Saharan Africa. 

Ademola Oluborode Jegede is Professor of Law in the Department of Public Law, University of Venda, South Africa. He has been a research visitor to the Centre for International Environmental Law, USA, Human Rights Institute at Abo Akademi, Finland, and a fellow of Salzburg Global Seminar, Austria. His research focuses on the interface of climate change with human rights of vulnerable groups and general international human rights law.