Nos batailles pour l’environnement, 50 procès

14 × 21 cm 320 pages softback april 2021 retail price: 22 €

50 procès – 50 ans de combats

OUR BATTLES FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

50 trials – 50 years of struggle

Corinne Lepage and Christian Huglo

A doctor in law and former lecturer at the Institute for Political Studies in Paris, Corinne Lepage has been a lawyer since 1975. In parallel she has also led a career in politics as deputy mayor of Cabourg 1989-2001, French environment minister 1995-1997, member of the European Parliament 2009-2014, and chair of Le Rassemblement Citoyen Cap 21. She has worked extensively with associations and today chairs a number of international associations, including the Friends of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. She has already written more than thirty books. A doctor in law, Christian Huglo joined the bar in 1968. In parallel to his professional life, he has followed a university career, lecturing at the universities of Metz, Paris I and II and cnam. In 1992 he created an archive of environmental legal cases (six volumes) which he has since continued compiling and coordinating. He is the scientific co-director of the ÉnergieEnvironnement-Infrastructures journal and author of more than a hundred articles and studies on environmental law. He has recently published two works on climate law.

Law is power and the development of environmental law is at the heart of ecological transition within society to protect the planet and guarantee our future.

Over the past fifty years, the authors have held an unfailing belief in the necessity of environmental law to protect the planet and fight against those economic forces that are set on destroying our environment in the name of personal interest. The book charts, dissects and analyzes fifty cases over the past fifty years and illustrates how the perspicacity of judges, the creativity of lawyers and the responsiveness of scientists has helped support citizens and local elected representatives to protect themselves against industries’ assaults on the environment. In the process environmental law has emerged as a genuine force but also as an important vector for innovation within our societies providing essential opposition to the dominant political currents prey to vested interest and inertia. However, the tide changed with the court decision in favor of the local authority of the village of Grande-Synthe on 19 November 2019. The State Council found that the government had failed in its duties and responsibilities to sufficiently protect the village against the impact of climate change. This decision has proved to be a turning point in French law and national policy. Although a legal exposition, this work is also a scintillating read that will appeal to all legal professionals who, within its pages, might find the legal and procedural smarts to tackle environmental cases and safeguard the interests of those they are defending as well as the whole of society. It is also a message of hope for all citizens. In this story of how environmental law developed, despite all odds, Corinne Lepage and Christophe Huglo reveal how it is essential to mobilize people and never give up whatever the obstacles.