<p>The right to a healthy environment has been the subject of extensive<br>philosophical debates that revolve around a key question: Should rights<br>to clean air, water, and soil be entrenched in law, in the<br>constitutions of democratic states?</p><br><br><p>In <em>The Environmental Rights Revolution,</em> David Boyd, one of<br>Canada's leading environmental lawyers, answers this question by<br>moving beyond theoretical debate to measure the practical effects of<br>enshrining the right to a healthy environment in constitutions. His<br>analysis of 193 constitutions and the laws and court decisions of more<br>than 100 nations shows how the constitutional right to a healthy<br>environment has been incorporated in legislation and is being<br>judicially enforced in Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Nations<br>with constitutional protections have stronger environmental laws,<br>enhanced enforcement, greater government accountability, and better<br>access to justice, information, and public participation in decision<br>making than nations without such provisions. As a result, they also<br>have smaller ecological footprints, rank higher on comprehensive<br>indices of environmental performance, and have reduced pollution<br>faster.</p><br><br><p>This important and timely book not only demonstrates that enshrining<br>environmental protection into national constitutions has the<br>power to make sustainability a priority, it tells inspiring stories<br>about the difference the right to a healthy environment is making in<br>people's lives.</p><br><p><br><p><b>Dr. David R. Boyd</b> is one of Canada's leading<br>experts in environmental law and policy and an adjunct professor in the<br>School of Resource and Environmental Management at Simon Fraser<br>University. He has advised the governments of Canada, Sweden, and<br>Iceland on environmental and constitutional issues and is the co-chair<br>of Vancouver's Greenest City Action Team along with Mayor Gregor<br>Robertson. He is a member of the IUCN's Commission on<br>Environmental Law, the Global Network for the Study of Human Rights and<br>the Environment, the Forum for Leadership on Water, and the<br>Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide (ELAW).</p><br><br><p>David Boyd is the author of several bestselling and award-winning<br>books as well as more than a hundred publications related to<br>environmental law and policy, including <em>Unnatural Law:<br>Rethinking Canadian Environmental Law and Policy</em>. His current<br>research focuses on the effects of enshrining environmental rights and<br>responsibilities in national constitutions.</p>