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Sustainability 2010, 2(8), 2424-2448; doi:10.3390/su2082424

Article

Losing the Forest for the Trees: Environmental Reductionism in the Law

Klaus Bosselmann

New Zealand Centre for Environmental Law, Faculty of Law, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland 1142, Aotearoa, New Zealand

Received: 29 June 2010; in revised form: 22 July 2010 / Accepted: 23 July 2010 / Published: 29 July 2010

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Laws and Sustainability)

Download PDF Full-Text [265 KB, uploaded 29 July 2010 15:26 CEST]

Abstract: Environmental laws and policies have saved some “trees”, but the “forest” is being lost as critical global issues including climate change, biodiversity loss, and our ecological footprint continue to worsen. Existing laws and policies mitigate the ecological damage inflicted by industrial economies and western lifestyles. The article essentially makes the case for a sustainability approach to law that aims for transformation rather than environmental mitigation. Relevant trends in international law and domestic law reflective of a sustainability approach are discussed, and the article describes some contours of “law for sustainability” or “sustainability law”.

Keywords: environmental reductionism; compartmentalization; fragmentation; subject of environmental law; anthropocentrism vs. ecocentrism; sustainability; ecological integrity; sustainability law

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