A Study on the Strategy of Sustainable Governance of NIMBY Movements: Focusing on Civil Environmental Rights

Abstract

It is a common problem faced by countries in the process of industrialization and urbanization that citizens oppose the construction of negative externality facilities near their residence. Environmental right is one of the basic rights enjoyed by citizens and also an important part of human rights, allowing citizens to participate in their own environmental use decisions and defend their own environmental rights and interests against infringement. This paper focuses on the basic environmental rights of citizens, essentially defines the NIMBY movement as a movement for justice in which citizens advocate for equal environmental rights and interests, and analyzes the movement's rationale or the fundamental environmental rights of citizens. Disregard for citizens' substantive and procedural environmental rights and interests is linked to NIMBY movements. At the same time, compared with the traditional campaign-styled governance paradigm, the sustainable development governance emphasizes joint negotiation and multiple interactions, which can better maximize the environmental benefits of the whole governance cycle. Therefore, this paper discussed the governance path of NIMBY from two dimensions: determining the boundaries of citizens’ substantive environmental rights and interests for enhancing their sense of identity and protecting citizens’ procedural environmental rights and interests by laying more emphasis on the sustainable governance of NIMBY movements.