Giving effect to the human right to a clean environment in Botswana

Abstract

Environmental deterioration remains a concern in Botswana. Despite efforts being made to address this issue by the state, more needs to be done in this regard. This is particularly interesting in the light of reports that the country is looking to draft a new constitution. Against this backdrop, this article considers whether including environmental rights in Botswana’s constitution would advance environmental protection efforts. To this end, the article relies on experiences with rights drawn from different jurisdictions across the world, as well as commentary on these experiences, to build a tool for measuring the extent to which the turn to environmental rights holds value in a given jurisdiction. Using this tool, and drawing from experiences in looking to establish environmental rights in Botswana, the article measures the extent to which including the right in the constitution would hold value in advancing Botswana’s pursuit of environmental protection objectives.