UNE School of Law lecturer and Deputy Director of the Australian Centre for Agriculture and Law, Associate Professor Amanda Kennedy, launched her book Environmental Justice and Land Use Conflict at UNE last week.
Doing the official honours was Chief Judge of the NSW Land and Environment Court, the Hon Justice Brian J Preston SC.
With conflict over the extraction of coal and gas resources rapidly escalating in communities throughout the world, the book uses an environmental justice lens to explore cases of land use conflict through the lived experiences of communities grappling with such disputes.
Drawing on theories of justice and fairness in environmental decision making, the book demonstrates how such land use conflicts concerning resource use can become entrenched social problems, resistant to policy and legal intervention.
Justice Preston said A/Prof Kennedy’s book made a valuable contribution to the jurisprudence on land use conflicts concerning natural resource extraction.
“The employment of an environmental justice lens permits fresh insights into land use conflicts,” he said.
“It allows an understanding of why these land use conflicts arise and why, despite governmental attempts, they have proven to be difficult to resolve.
“Associate Professor Kennedy’s recommendations for reform of both the process of meta-governance and the laws and institutional structures within the governance system are thoughtful and topical.
“They deserve careful consideration by the various actors and institutions within the governance system.
“I commend the book and am pleased to launch it.”
A/Prof Kennedy presents three case studies, from Australia and Pennsylvania in the US, of conflict concerning coal,coal gas and shale gas development.
It shows how conflict has escalated in each case, exploring access to justice in land use decision making processes from the perspective of the communities at the heart of these disputes. Weaknesses in contemporary policy and regulatory frameworks, including ineffective opportunities for public participation and a lack of community recognition in land use decision making processes, are explored.
The book concludes with an examination of procedural, institutional and community engagement reforms to improve access to environmental justice and better manage cases of land use conflict. Overall, the volume links the philosophies of environmental justice with rich case study findings, offering readers further insight into both the theory and practice of land use decision making.
Photo: Associate Professor Amanda Kennedy and Chief Judge of the NSW Land and Environment Court, the Hon Justice Brian J Preston SC, at the launch.