Strengthening Environmental Justice Through Community-Based Legal Empowerment

Lucio Marcal Gomes; Yohanna YR Watofa; Sumiyati

doi:10.55927/fjst.v5i4.33

Authors

Lucio Marcal Gomes Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, National University of East Timor (UNTL)
Yohanna YR Watofa Sekolah Tinggi Ilmu Hukum Manokwari
Sumiyati Politeknik Negeri Bandung

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55927/fjst.v5i4.33

Keywords:

Environmental Justice, Legal Empowerment, Community Participation, Environmental Governance, Access to Justice.

Abstract

Environmental justice remains a critical issue, particularly in developing countries where marginalized communities often face environmental degradation with limited access to legal protection. This study examines how community-based legal empowerment can strengthen environmental justice by improving legal awareness, participation, and access to environmental decision-making processes. Using a normative and socio-legal approach, the research analyzes environmental law frameworks, policy documents, and relevant literature on community participation in environmental governance. The findings indicate that legal empowerment initiative, such as legal literacy programs, community advocacy networks, and participatory monitoring, can enhance communities’ capacity to defend their environmental rights and influence policy decisions. However, challenges such as limited legal resources and weak law enforcement continue to hinder effective implementation. The study concludes that integrating community-based legal empowerment into environmental governance is essential for promoting equitable and sustainable environmental justice

References

Agarwal, A., Brown, D. G., & Evans, T. P. (2021). Community monitoring and environmental governance: Insights from participatory approaches. Global Environmental Change, 69, 102276. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2021.102276

Agyeman, J., Schlosberg, D., Craven, L., & Matthews, C. (2021). Trends and directions in environmental justice: From inequity to everyday life, community, and just sustainabilities. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 46, 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-012220-110901

Banakar, R., & Travers, M. (2021). Law and social theory (3rd ed.). Hart Publishing.

Bennett, N. J., Blythe, J., White, C. S., & Campero, C. (2021). Blue growth and blue justice: Ten risks and solutions for the ocean economy. Marine Policy, 125, 104387. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2020.104387

Brinks, D. M., & Gauri, V. (2021). Courts and the marginalized: Public interest litigation and social rights in comparative perspective. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108764028

Cotterrell, R. (2021). Sociological perspectives on law (2nd ed.). Routledge.

Dehm, J. (2021). Reconsidering environmental justice in the global context: Rights, power, and environmental governance. Transnational Environmental Law, 10(3), 487–509. https://doi.org/10.1017/S2047102521000205

Fisher, S., Dodman, D., & Satterthwaite, D. (2021). Urban climate justice: Addressing inequalities in climate change governance. Environment and Urbanization, 33(1), 3–14. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956247820974305

Gellers, J. C. (2022). The global emergence of constitutional environmental rights. Environmental Politics, 31(3), 501–522. https://doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2021.1897049

Gellers, J. C., Jeffords, C., & Das, J. (2022). The human right to a healthy environment: A research agenda. Environmental Politics, 31(1), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2021.1947173

Golub, S. (2020). Legal empowerment: Advancing good governance and poverty reduction. World Development, 134, 105051. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105051

Goodwin, L., & Maru, V. (2021). What do we know about legal empowerment? Mapping the evidence. World Development, 146, 105524. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105524

Guest, G., Namey, E., & Mitchell, M. (2020). Collecting qualitative data: A field manual for applied research. SAGE Publications.

Halliday, T. C., & Shaffer, G. (2021). Transnational legal orders. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108756238

Kotzé, L. J., & French, D. (2022). The Anthropocentric ontology of international environmental law and the sustainable development goals: Towards an ecocentric rule of law. Global Environmental Change, 75, 102540. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2022.102540

Maru, V., & Gauri, V. (2022). The justice system and the right to a healthy environment. World Development, 152, 105787. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105787

Meyer, N., & Nielsen, S. (2020). Document analysis in legal and governance research. International Journal of Law in Context, 16(3), 300–315. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1744552320000208

Newig, J., & Koontz, T. M. (2021). Multi-level governance, policy implementation and participation: The EU’s mandated participatory planning approach to implementing environmental policy. Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning, 23(3), 321–337. https://doi.org/10.1080/1523908X.2020.1834047

Newig, J., Challies, E., Jager, N. W., Kochskämper, E., & Adzersen, A. (2020). The environmental performance of participatory and collaborative governance: A framework of causal mechanisms. Policy Studies Journal, 48(1), 269–297. https://doi.org/10.1111/psj.12209

Nowell, L. S., & Albrecht, L. (2022). A reviewer's guide to qualitative rigor. Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management, 17(2), 258–270. https://doi.org/10.1108/QROM-07-2020-1992

O’Faircheallaigh, C. (2022). Indigenous peoples and environmental justice: Governance, rights and participation. Environmental Politics, 31(6), 1041–1059. https://doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2021.1996400

Pellow, D. N. (2021). Toward a critical environmental justice studies: Black lives matter as an environmental justice challenge. Du Bois Review, 18(2), 345–365. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1742058X21000159

Rodríguez-Garavito, C. (2020). Human rights: The global rise of the environmental justice movement. Annual Review of Law and Social Science, 16, 297–318. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-lawsocsci-020320-085938

Sandefur, R. L. (2020). Access to what? Daedalus, 148(1), 49–62. https://doi.org/10.1162/daed_a_00544

Schlosberg, D., & Collins, L. B. (2021). From environmental to climate justice: Climate change and the discourse of environmental justice. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, 12(4), e709. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.709

Temper, L., Walter, M., Rodriguez, I., Kothari, A., & Turhan, E. (2020). A perspective on radical transformations to sustainability: Resistances, movements and alternatives. Sustainability Science, 15(3), 747–764. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-019-00797-3