ABSTRACT
The year 2021 was a fraught one globally with the number of chilling reports that have been released on the intensification of climate change and its disastrous impacts on people and the environment. Coupled with this is the ominous warning that humanity is now, fast, running out of time to limit global warming. Key to note is the fact that the African region remains highly vulnerable to climate change, and as a result, will bear (and already bears) some of its worst social and environmental impacts.
Africa’s response to its climate change dilemma can be seen in the progress made on environmental protection. These are seen in regional and sub-regional initiatives, which are indicative of the emergence of an environmental rule of law in Africa. However, due to the urgency to mitigate the effects of climate change, and the need to ensure the sustainability of the environment, African countries are walking a thin line between balancing the need to improve environmental protection initiatives and strategies; and enhancing development on the continent. Development must be sustainable and must endure for generations to come, and one way this is being achieved is through the judiciary. The role of the judiciary in ensuring that it seeks to adopt creative and novel interpretations of existing legal provisions to advance environmental protection without negating development, and while staying within the bounds of the rule of law is highlighted. This chapter locates the response of Africa’s judiciary within the parameters of the environmental rule of law, to highlight already existing proactive judicial approaches as an indication of the judiciary’s approach. Insights will also be drawn from foreign jurisdictions in the European Union and beyond.
