Resumen de Revisión del libro: A substantive environmental right. An examination of the legal obligations of decision-makers towards the environment de Stephen Turner

Claudia María Rojas Quiñones

• español

  Desde hace algunas de?cadas, la mutua y complicada interdependencia entre derechos humanos y medio ambiente, ha ido generando a nivel internacional un interesante debate sobre co?mo armonizar los valores e intereses que estos dos a?mbitos comportan. En este contexto la obra de Stephen J. Turner, A Substantive Environmental Right, An Examination of the Legal Obligations of Decision-Makers towards the Environment, constituye una importante contribucio?n al citado debate. Turner examina profunda y concienzudamente el efecto que la institucionalizacio?n de un derecho humano substantivo podri?a tener sobre la proteccio?n ambiental. Al mismo tiempo, Turner presenta unas elaboradas sugerencias en relacio?n con la manera en que tal derecho habri?a de ser establecido y con la forma en que deberi?a operar en la pra?ctica. Ba?sicamente, el autor fundamenta su propuesta de desarrollar un derecho humano al medio ambiente en la creacio?n de deberes y obligaciones de proteccio?n ambiental no so?lo frente a los actores estatales, sino tambie?n frente a los no estatales. Adicionalmente, al lado de describir y valorar la obra de Turner, la idea del presente trabajo es responder a algunos de los argumentos del autor, con el a?nimo de contribuir a la evolucio?n de la discusio?n acerca de la necesidad de institucionalizar un derecho humano al medio ambiente.

• English

  For a couple of decades, the mutual and complicated interdependence between human rights and environment has been generating an interesting debate on an international level on how to harmonize the values and interests which the two subjects implicate. In this context the work of Stephen J. Turner, A Substantive Environmental Right, An Examination of the Legal Obligations of Decision-Makers towards the Environment, is an important contribution to this debate. Turner examines thoughtfully and conscientiously the effect that the institutionalization of a substantive human right may have on the protection of the environment. At the same time, Turner analyses how this right should be established and how it should work in practice, based on his own elaborated suggestions. Basically, the author bases his propositions, related to the development of a human right to the environment, on the creation of duties and obligations not only for state actors, but also for non-state ones regarding to the environmental protection. In addition to realize a description and estimation of Turner’s work the idea of this paper is to respond to some of the arguments of the author with the aim to contribute to the development of the discussion about the necessity of the institutionalization of a human right to environment.