Sustainable Property Law

Bram Akkermans*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterAcademic

Abstract

Sustainable development, meeting our own needs without compromising the ability for future generations to meet their own needs, is one of the most important challenges of the 21st century. The UN Global Goals (SDGs) operationalise the general idea of sustainable development over a number of areas. The underlying ideas and assumptions are that everybody is not only able but should contribute to achieving these goals. Sustainable development raises serious challenges to legal systems. These systems can be reevaluated to investigate to what extent they facilitate parties, both private parties and governments, to work towards a more sustainable society. Often the framework of planetary boundaries is used to measure and illustrate how excess use of resources leads to overshooting sustainable use of our planet. Approximately 24% of the earth’s surface is land and it is estimated that a vast amount of that land is held in private ownership. Land use is an important contributor to climate change, to equality, and other aspects of sustainable development. The law of property is under explored in this area. This chapter focuses on ecological sustainability and therefore on the negative effect of land use on climate change. After an overview of the current state of property law and sustainability, this chapter will deal with some fundamental challenges that need to be addressed in the coming decade(s) in order to create a sustainable property law.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationA Research Agenda for Property Law
EditorsBram Akkermans
Place of PublicationCheltenham/Northampton
PublisherEdward Elgar Publishing
Pages161–176
Number of pages15
ISBN (Electronic)9781803924816
ISBN (Print)9781803924809
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 21 May 2024

Keywords

  • sustainable property law
  • sustainability
  • property law
  • sustainable obligations

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