Thesis

Agroecology and EU law: finding potential for agroecology at the nexus between biodiversity law and human rights law

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Awarding institution
  • University of Strathclyde
Date of award
  • 2022
Thesis identifier
  • T16419
Person Identifier (Local)
  • 201654093
Qualification Level
Qualification Name
Department, School or Faculty
Abstract
  • The negative environmental and social impacts of an industrial agricultural and food system have increasingly become a focus of attention of international and EU law. Agroecology provides a promising, alternative model for farming and food production, based upon principles of ecology and equity. However, the uptake of agroecology in law is limited and where explicit references are made, they are often defined by a lack of conceptual clarity and the absence of objectives and principles that are required to guide comprehensive and systemic change. This thesis argues that whilst there is a huge need for laws and policies to be more supportive of agroecological transitions, there is no need to reinvent the legal wheel as ecological thinking is already evident in other areas of law- and policymaking. In particular, it finds that the ecosystem approach under the Convention on Biological Diversity – and its elements of integration, conservation, and equity – could provide a framework to guide regulatory actions and reform in an agroecological direction. This thesis then uses two case studies on EU risk regulation of pesticides and GMOs and EU regulation on organic production to identify where and how EU law is currently delivering on a vision that integrates and prioritises ecological stewardship and where it is falling short. The analyses reveal that whilst considerations related to the protection of agroecosystem functions are increasingly included in high level provisions, principles and aims, they are not translated into concrete measures such as decisions on authorisation in the case of GMOs and pesticides, and specific production rules in the case of organic certification. The (increasing) marginalisation of agroecological farmers as ecosystem stewards in the relevant processes and the lack of (meaningful) integration of local knowledge are recognised as common inhibiting factors to a more (agro)ecological approach to regulation. This thesis, therefore, turns to human rights law to see how agroecological stewards can be (re)empowered in relevant law- and policymaking processes. In this regard, it further examines the important dynamics between the ecological and social elements of agroecology, drawing synergies with the CBD’s ecosystem approach. This analysis exposes the great potential that lies at the nexus between biodiversity and human rights law, to design a framework that is sufficiently detailed and (quasi-)justiciable, to address injustices and power imbalances in economic and regulatory spaces and further the uptake of agroecological practices. Through the reframing of underlying problems and questions in substantive human rights terms, and by exposing current gaps in the implementation of procedural rights, this thesis, lastly, uses the case studies to propose specific and detailed reforms, and to draw more general conclusions on the potential of a combined biodiversity- and human rights framework to foster agroecology.
Advisor / supervisor
  • Morgera, Elisa
Resource Type
Note
  • Previously held under moratorium from 1st November 2022 until 12th June 2023.
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