ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses constitutional developments relating to environmental rights. According to Boyd, prior to the 1970s, only a handful of countries included constitutional provisions relating to the environment. These were rudimentary provisions on protecting natural beauty or conserving natural resources – examples include the Constitutions of Italy, Malta, Guatemala, and San Marino. Constitutional environmental provisions can be divided into several categories: those that include substantive environmental rights including related rights, such as the right to water; those with procedural environmental rights; constitutions that include individual and/or state environmental duties; and so on. Procedural rights include the right to information relating to the environment, right to participate in the decision-making process and the right to remedies, and the right to challenge particular decisions or unconstitutional laws. In several countries, environmental provisions are included in the section on directive principles of state policy or as a policy directive or as a state duty.
