ABSTRACT
Constitutions represent a historic moment when society reaches for the best of itself and attempts to protect its core values from the political vacillations of successive governments over time. This is a particularly salient factor in the area of environmental protection, since governments elected for a handful of years are wont to prioritise short-term economic or political gains over long-term ecological (and economic) sustainability. This chapter argues that in addition to an explicit and binding principle of ecological sustainability, ecological constitutionalism requires the recognition of intergenerational equity and the closely related public trust doctrine. Intergenerational equity posits the existing generation of humans as both beneficiaries and trustees of a planetary trust for present and future generations. The author describes and analyses constitutional provisions and judicial decisions that effectuate this principle. Next, the chapter examines the public trust doctrine – which views government as trustee of natural resources for present and future members of the public – as a domestic application of intergenerational equity.
