Ecological Law and the Planetary Crisis: A Legal Guide for Harmony on Earth (Routledge Explorations in Environmental Studies)

"This book uses a transdisciplinary systems approach to examine how Earth's human-caused ecological crisis arose and presents a new legal approach for overcoming it. Ecological Law and the Planetary Crisis first examines how the history of humanity's social metabolism, along with the history of human inventions and ideas, led to the human-Earth dilemma we see today and explains why contemporary law is inadequate for confronting this dilemma. The book goes on to propose ecological law-law that maintains human activity within ecological limits such as planetary boundaries while ensuring social justice and equity-as an essential element of an urgently needed radical pathway of change toward a perpetual, mutually enhancing human-Earth relationship. Finally, it offers a systems-based analytical tool for organizing actions to promote the transition from environmental to ecological law. Increasing the visibility, clarity and development of ecological law, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars of ecological and environmental law and governance"-- Provided by publisher Dedication 8 Contents 10 List of tables 12 Acknowledgments 13 List of abbreviations 15 Introduction 18 Part I: The role of law in the rise of the global ecological crisis 26 1 The Anthropocene as a frame of reference 28 2 The human dilemma in the Anthropocene 39 3 Energy transitions in history and their impacts 45 4 How conceptual factors like law helped lead to the Anthropocene 59 Part II: The failure of environmental law to respect key ecological limits 80 5 An overview of the failures of environmental law 82 6 Key examples of the inadequacy of environmental law 90 Part III: Ecological law: systems-based rules for a flourishing Earth 108 7 What is ecological law? 110 8 A mutually enhancing human-Earthrelationship as the primary goal for law 114 9 The systems-basedperspective underlying ecological law 125 10 The limits-insistentnarrative and planetary boundaries 131 11 Eleven core features of ecological law 144 12 Ecological integrity and attachment to place in ecological law 169 Part IV: Getting from environmental to ecological law 184 13 A systems-basedguide for moving from environmental to ecological law 186 14 Overcoming ecological challenges of international trade: an illustration 200 Part V: Degrowth and ecological law 242 15 The degrowth movement as a testing ground for ecological law 244 Index 252 The anthropocene as a frame of reference -- The human dilemma in the anthropocene -- Energy transitions in history and their impacts -- How conceptual factors like law helped lead to the anthropocene -- An overview of the failures of environmental law -- Key examples of the inadequacy of environmental law -- What is ecological law? -- A mutually enhancing human-earth relationship as the primary goal for law -- The systems-based perspective underlying ecological law -- The limits-insistent narrative and planetary boundaries -- Eleven core features of ecological law -- Ecological integrity and attachment to place in ecological law -- A systems-based guide for moving from environmental to ecological law -- Overcoming ecological challenges of international trade : an illustration -- The degrowth movement as a testing ground for ecological law