Elza Nico Marriëtte Feijs
Research interests
My PhD project looks into the interconnection between the evolution towards ecocentrism and the regimes surrounding climate change and human rights.
Law is one of several tools to achieve nature conservation objectives. It has promising but mostly unfulfilled potential, which is highlighted by the outdated anthropocentric world view it reflects. This world view lies at the root of unfolding ecological crises and fully addressing climate change can therefore not be done with anthropocentric law. Ecocentrism, which puts the environment at the center instead of man, provides an alternative to this immature worldview of only humans having intrinsic value. It can be argued that a subtle paradigm shift is ongoing in the theoretical basis of international environmental law from anthropocentrism towards ecocentrism. While there has been development, human interests are still systematically and automatically prioritized over nature’s intrinsic value.
This project investigates this development towards ecocentrism specifically in the fields of human rights and climate change, which are increasingly brought to bear on each other through litigation. Nationally and internationally, climate change cases are being brought in the context of human rights, because the climate crisis pertains a critical threat to human rights. ‘Human’ rights are seemingly inherently anthropocentric. In the context of climate change, they aim for the protection and improvement of the environment to benefit humans and their rights. Therefore, at least at first sight, there is a tension between ecocentrism and human rights in a climate change context.
However, both ecocentrism and the invoking of human rights in climate change cases have the objective of an improvement of resilience and overall stability of the environment, whether it be for human interests or nature’s intrinsic value. This indicates some convergence of interests in two major recent legal trends with seemingly contradictory starting points. This project will therefore look into this interconnection between the evolution towards ecocentrism and the regimes surrounding climate change and human rights. By looking into this interconnection, conclusions can be drawn on possible synergies or insurmountable tensions between the two.
