Over the last twenty years, international environmental law has attempted to address the
global threats to the health of our planet including ozone layer depletion, climate change,
global deforestation, the pollution of freshwater resources and the oceans and species
extinction. Unfortunately, the state of the environment is not improving as fast as
environmental conventions come forth. The premise for this thesis is therefore that
international environmental law is not effective in protecting the natural environment.
Responsible for the survival of their families and communities, women in developing
countries are the most vulnerable to environmental degradation as dwindling natural and
freshwater resources and soil erosion threaten their survival base. Unfortunately,
international environmental law does little to acknowledge this vulnerability and even
less to assist women in developing countries cope with environmental degradation. The
vast knowledge of ecosystems held by women in developing countries is also largely
ignored, thus marginalizing their way of knowing and disregarding potential solutions to
environmental problems.
This thesis therefore takes a critical look from an ecofeminist standpoint at the traditional
characteristics of international environmental law such as states' sovereign right to
exploit their natural resources, states' right to development and the emphasis of
international environmental law on science and technology. The thesis also examines
emerging principles of international environmental law such as sustainable development,
intergenerational equity, common concern of humankind, and the precautionary principle,
which attempt to address some of the concerns raised by the more traditional approach.
However, the thesis concludes that despite these new developments, international
environmental law is still premised on an androcentric perspective of the natural
environment which impedes it from achieving true environmental protection and which serves to continue the marginalization of women. In this thesis, I argue that a new
conceptualization of the relationship between humankind and the natural environment is
necessary in order to save our planet from ecological disaster and that ecofeminism can
offer such an alternative view. Finally, the conclusion will suggest a few concrete ways of
including women's perspectives and ways of knowing into the negotiation of
environmental conventions and in their implementation.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/8236 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Rochette, Annie |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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