Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Environment, Climate Change and Constitutionalism, Ankara, Türkiye, 20 - 21 Ekim 2022
Intergenerational justice is concerned with the duties and responsibilities that present
generations have to past and future generations. Understanding of the rights of future generations
claims that present generations have duties and responsibilities for future people. Climate change
causes the intergenerational injustice. Many constitutions provide general and specific
environmental rights. Lately, countries such as Poland, Germany, France, Switzerland, South
Africa, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Bolivia stipulated provisions regarding the ecological
intergenerational justice in their constitutions.
As the ultimate interpreter of the constitution, the Constitutional court can have a significant
impact on preservation of the environment and establishment of understanding of ecological
intergenerational justice. Some constitutional courts take an activist position to establish the rights
of the future generations. Case-law of Columbian, Chilean, South African and German Federal
Constitutional Courts and Supreme Court of Philippines are noteworthy. On the other hand, some
courts, such as the Turkish Constitutional Court, do not seem to embrace a rights-based approach
on the future generations. Indeed, TCC admits the importance of the environmental protection for
the future generations but does not ensure guarantees for preventing and resolving
intergenerational justice. Yet, court is far away from entrenching a similar approach.
In this paper, I will discuss the role of the constitutional adjudication on the environmental
protection and establishment of the rights of the future generations and the ways in which
constitutional courts establish an understanding of ecological intergenerational justice. And from
this point of view, my focus will be on why and in which ways TCC fall behind this judicial
approach.
Keywords: Intergenerational Justice, Intergenerational Injustice, Rights of the Future
Generations, Climate Crises, Environmental Constitutionalism.