Biodiversity, Global Governance of the Environment, and Indigenous Peoples

2022 ◽  
pp. 157-183
Author(s):  
Linda Etchart
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Global Governance

Rebalancing state and Indigenous sovereignties in international law: An Arctic lens on trajectories for global governance

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 675-693
Author(s):  
Sabaa Ahmad Khan
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
International Law ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Global Governance ◽  
Anthropogenic Activities ◽  
International System ◽  
Arctic Climate ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Arctic Climate Change

AbstractThe environmental and economic realities of Arctic climate change present novel problems for international law. Arctic warming and pollution raise important questions about responsibilities and accountabilities across borders, as they result from anthropogenic activities both within and outside the Arctic region, from the Global North and the Global South. Environmental interdependencies and economic development prospects connect in a nexus of risk and opportunity that raises difficult normative questions pertaining to Arctic governance and sovereignty. This article looks at how the Arctic has been produced in international legal spaces. It addresses the implication of states and Indigenous peoples in processes of Arctic governance. Looking at specific international legal instruments relevant to Arctic climate change and development, the author attempts to tease out the relationship between the concepts of Indigenous rights and state sovereignty that underlie these international legal realms. What do these international legal regimes tell us with respect to the role of Arctic Indigenous peoples and the role of states in governing the ‘global’ Arctic? It is argued that while international law has come a long way in recognizing the special status of Indigenous peoples in the international system, it still hesitates to recognize Indigenous groups as international law makers. Comparing the status of Indigenous peoples under specific international regimes to their role within the Arctic Council, it becomes evident that more participatory forms of global governance are entirely possible and long overdue.

Introduction: Appraising the United Nations Human Rights Regime

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alston Philip ◽  
Mégret Frédéric
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Global Governance ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Human Rights Regime ◽  
High Commissioner ◽  
Constant Change ◽  
New Instruments

This introductory chapter provides an overview of the UN rights regime, which has changed dramatically in almost every respect. In normative terms, major new instruments have been adopted addressing the situation of persons with disabilities, disappearances, indigenous peoples, and many other groups, and the rights of LGBTI persons are now squarely on the agenda from which they were then almost entirely absent. In terms of staff, the relatively small Center for Human Rights has been replaced by an Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. These dynamics illustrate the extent to which the place of human rights within the broader constellation of global governance is susceptible to constant change. The chapter then considers what is, or should be, involved in the process of evaluating or appraising the effectiveness of the UN human rights regime as a whole and of individual human rights organs.

scholarly journals Too liberal for global governance? International legal human rights system and indigenous peoples’ right to self-determination

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 196-214
Author(s):  
Ranjoo Seodu Herr
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Global Governance ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Legal Regime ◽  
International Consensus ◽  
Cultural Integrity ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Liberal Individualism

This article considers whether the international legal human rights system founded on liberal individualism, as endorsed by liberal theorists, can function as a fair universal legal regime. This question is examined in relation to the collective right to self-determination demanded by indigenous peoples, who are paradigmatic decent nonliberal peoples. Indigenous peoples’ collective right to self-determination has been internationally recognized in the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which was adopted by the United Nations in 2007. This historic event may seem to exemplify the international legal human rights system’s ability to function as a truly global legal regime applicable cross-culturally to all well-ordered societies, whether liberal or nonliberal. The article argues, however, that the collective right to self-determination advocated by indigenous peoples for the sake of cultural integrity is inconsistent with the international legal human rights system founded on liberal individualism. By showing the plausibility of indigenous peoples’ defense of their cultural integrity, this article suggests that the international legal human rights system ought to be reconceptualized to reflect a genuine international consensus on human rights among all well-ordered societies if it is to function as a just mechanism for global governance.

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