Although the term 'Anthropocene' was introduced by Paul J. Crutzen and Eugene F. Stoermer in 2000, the concept of a geological age of our own making where our refers to humankind, particularly the civilised Man, had been proposed and discussed long before its formal introduction.
In this geological epoch, climate change and various ecological shifts are believed to have surpassed safe biophysical boundaries, resulting in an earth that is progressively hazardous and unstable. The hardships and challenges arising from these transformations can no longer be solely attributed to acts of nature or fate but may well be interconnected with human actions and responsibility.
The Anthropocene and human rights abuse
Studies have argued that socio-ecological injustices are emerging alongside the changing environment, and the repercussions of the Anthropocene are intensifying human rights concerns.
Although all individuals, both current and future generations are considered vulnerable in the Anthropocene and will experience the effects of Earth system changes, it is imperative that we acknowledge the disparities in how these impacts are experienced in understanding how the Anthropocene underscores global inequities and socio-ecological injustices that contribute to human rights violations.
In the Anthropocene, environmental challenges are intricately connected to economic policies that have allowed the wealthiest populations to consume an unequal portion of the Earth's resources, leaving large portions of humanity in extreme poverty.
As material wealth grows for the affluent, the consequences of pollution, land degradation, and resource depletion disproportionately affect the vulnerable and impoverished. Scholars argue that the Anthropocene's narrative of 'universalism' erases these power relations and historical inequities (Armiero and De Angelis, 2017). This is because not all individuals throughout history have played an equal role in the emergence of the Anthropocene.
It is evident that a few privileged individuals - referred to by Kotze (2019) as the 'Anthropos' - constituting the world’s wealthiest population are the least affected by Earth system disturbances like climate change despite being the controllers of the capitalist-driven mode of production governed by principles of extractivism and accumulation by dispossession that is arguably coterminous with the advent of the Anthropocene
In Bukaleba, a region in Uganda, Green Resources, a Norwegian company, obtained a 50 year licence to 9,165 hectares of land in the Bukaleba Central Forest Reserve in 1996.
The Bukaleba project generated approximately 100,000 tons of CO2 equivalents in offsets and resulted in the violent displacement of thirteen communities and the loss of their forest commons rights, environmental degradation from agrochemical use, and biodiversity loss due to clearing indigenous trees for non-native species.
The Bukaleba case is one example of a wealthy international company exploiting the ecosystem services of a global south country in the name of 'green development', directly influencing environmental degradation in a community, impacting their wellbeing and livelihoods and violating their local rights.
Rethinking human rights abuse in the age of the Anthropocene
The consequences of the Anthropocene era on human rights such as the communal rights of indigenous communities to their traditional resources and lands, as well as the rights to health, life and property, highlight the necessity for a revaluation of ethical perspectives to guarantee global justice for everyone during this epoch. Heather Davis argues the importance of decolonising the Anthropocene in addressing its ethical and political implications.
The degradation of the environment and the resulting social injustices and violations are interconnected manifestations of a flawed global economic development model (Rees and Westra, 2003). This model stems from a broader underlying cultural crisis and understanding this alongside the relationship between colonialism and the Anthropocene highlights the inherent violence within it towards communities affected by the capitalist and colonial ideologies that shaped the origins of the Anthropocene.
A rethinking of the legal framework for human rights by interpreting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) through the lens of the Anthropocene alone is likely to be insufficient in tackling emerging human rights issues.
An example of the limitations of this approach can be seen in climate-related displacements and the resulting climate refugee crises. More refugees exist globally than ever before, with a rising number due to climate-related causes.
In 2022, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC) reported 23.7 million displacements from natural disasters across 141 countries and regions. Despite its magnitude, no international law recognises and explicitly protects climate-displaced people’s rights (Rodrigues et al., 2023). While human rights extend beyond those granted by legal frameworks, explicitly recognising and including other refugee categories in this instance, and more broadly, revising legal frameworks comprehensively and in a manner relevant to the Anthropocene, could enhance global justice by addressing the specificities of human rights in the present era.
In conclusion, the Anthropocene highlights global inequities and injustices that lead to the violation of various human rights, necessitating a re-evaluation of human rights issues within this epoch.
An interdisciplinary approach that incorporates a reimagining of global human rights and international environmental law, acknowledges the impact of colonialism and capitalism in the Anthropocene, and promotes global collaboration to advance environmental justice while respecting local autonomy and rights, is essential to ensure the realisation of all human rights.
References
Armiero, M. and De Angelis, M. (2017). Anthropocene: Victims, Narrators, and Revolutionaries. South Atlantic Quarterly, 116(2), pp.345–362. doi:https://doi.org/10.1215/00382876-3829445.
Davis, H. and Todd, Z. (2017). On the Importance of a Date, or Decolonizing the Anthropocene. [online] An International Journal for Critical Geographies An International Journal for Critical Geographies, 16(4):, pp.761–780. Available at: https://acme-journal.org/index.php/acme/article/view/1539/1303 [Accessed 7 Feb. 2024].
Kotzé, L.J. (2019). The Anthropocene, Earth system vulnerability and socio-ecological injustice in an age of human rights. Journal of Human Rights and the Environment, 10(1), pp.62–85. doi:https://doi.org/10.4337/jhre.2019.01.04.
Rodrigues, V., Cabral, S., Torres, E., Gomes, A., Pinto, J., Neto, C., Alexsandra, V., Pedroso, M., Luís, A., De Lima, De, J. and Rodrigues, O. (2023). Environmental refuge: a perspective of the economic context and legal recognition. Brazilian Journal of Physical Geography, 16(5), pp.2811–2831.
William E Rees and Laura Westra, ‘When Consumption Does Violence: Can There Be Sustainability and Environmental Justice in a Resource-Limited World?’ in Julian Agyeman, Robert D Bullard and Bob Evans (eds), Just Sustainabilities: Development in an Unequal World (MIT Press 2003) 110-112
