Constitutionalization of Environmental Protection: Comparative Dimension

Abstract

Modern comparative constitutional studies go beyond the analysis of traditional institutions. In particular, the process of constitutionalization of environmental protection is developing very dynamically. In the 1970s these issues were enshrined in four constitutions, at present they are contained in 157 constitutions of the countries of the world. The subject of constitutional regulation is significantly expanding: it includes the principles of environmental law, directions of environmental policy, environmental rights of future generations and institutional mechanisms for their protection. The evolution of constitutional provisions follows the drafting of soft international law norms. The countries of the global South are more active in this area of constitutional regulation than the countries of the global North. Certain regional approaches in this area have already emerged. Thus, in Latin American states there is a transition from anthropocentrism to ecocentrism, nature and its individual objects are recognized as subjects of law.