ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the nature of the commitments as they are expressed as state constitutional rules aimed at protecting the health of the environment for present and future generations. It considers whether the principles offer a legitimate basis for the initiation of a stronger institutional commitment to environmental security as an intergenerational public right. The chapter shows how these commitments are articulated by various constitutional states as culturally specific interpretations of what is means to be a trustee of that state’s democratic, cultural and ecological heritage, as well as universal justice ideals. As ecological problems deepen, climate change is likely to further confound ‘the riddle’ of state constitutional commitments to equality, freedom and democratic solidarity. Constitutional law may rely on certain established traditions of knowledge and ready-made mechanisms of justification that ground the validity of its rules in a system of communication that seems to ‘turn back upon itself’ to preserve the authority of its position.
