The Duty to Protect the Environment: From anthropocentrism of a right to anthropocentrism as a duty towards future generations

A substantial right whose content is the environment: this is, very often, from the juridical point of view, the paradigm used for explaining the sort of protected position within the legal system which could be referred to the citizens faced with the environment. The idea Prof. Fabrizio Fracchia would like to discuss, instead, also in a provocative way, is completely different, and is based upon three pillars:

• the environment is not a right;
• the purpose of the regulation is not to protect the environment, but the human species;
• a more comprehensive sector of law, namely intergenerational responsibility, is emerging.

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Speaker

Prof. Fabrizio Fracchia

• 2001 – present: Full Professor of Administrative Law, Department of Law, Bocconi University, Milan.
• Author of 12 Books (on Amministrative Law, Environmental Law, Public Law), Co-author of Manuale di diritto amministrativo, Compendio di diritto amministrativo, Giustizia Amministrativa, Milano, Giuffré; Ed.
• Articles: about 170 in Italian and International Journals, of which more than 40 published in the highest-ranking Journals; Speeches and papers at national and international conferences and seminars: more than 300. https://didattica.unibocconi.it/mypage/index.php?IdUte=49497&idr=7679&lingua=ita

Lecture Series

This lecture is part of the Environmental Law Lecture Series: Strengthening EU Environmental Law, Legal Perspectives on Greening Europe series. This series provides a set of important insights from environmental law scholars on how EU environmental law helps to achieve the aim of a high level of environmental protection in the European Union and across the world.

With the European Green Deal from 11 December 2019 the European Commission tabled an ambitious legislative program, based on fundamental aims such as zero pollution, do no harm, and climate neutrality. Many legal developments took place and are still on-going, both at the European and national regulatory levels as in the courtroom, including the national courts. While efforts to protect the environment are direly needed, including effective implementation and enforcement, the regulatory acquis, and the flow of case law, has become utterly complex which poses challenges for acquiring a good understanding and application.

This freely accessible online (and hybrid) lecture series provides students and scholars with core insights in the state of affairs and further improvement of EU environmental law. The lecture series will run in 2023 and 2024. All lectures will be recorded and will be made accessible through YouTube.