Rethinking Transnational Environmental Health Governance in Africa: Can Adaptive Governance Help?

Abstract

This article explores options to strengthen environmental law to maximize its health impact in the developing world. A review of environmental treaties, including their domestic implementation, reveals the weak synergies between health and environmental objectives. The article advances adaptive governance as a framework for rethinking international environmental law to improve health in Africa, but argues that it has its limits. It analyses these strengths and limits in the context of evolving regional environmental health governance in Africa, and proposes four principles – environmental justice, multi-sectoral collaboration, evaluation and environmental ethics – to reinforce its potential to improve health and the environment in Africa.