Environmental Justice

David Yencken

“At the heart of intergenerational equity is the principle that we hold the natural environment as a sacred trust that we have a duty to hand down to following generations in a state not less diminished than the one that we have enjoyed. This is not a new concept. It has deep roots in all religious traditions. It has a long tradition in international, civil and traditional law. The principle is given expression in many UN documents, such as the Earth Charter and Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Most significant of all these instruments is the UNESCO Declaration on the Responsibilities of the Present Generations Towards Future Generations.

How then should we approach environmental intergenerational equity? First, there needs to be an appropriate balance between intragenerational and intergenerational equity, what is just today and what is just for the future …”