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23 Nigerian L.J. 1 (2022)
Terra Nullius: Race, Colonialism and Their Influence on International Environmental Law and Environmental Justice in Africa

handle is hein.journals/nlj23 and id is 8 raw text is: Terra Nullius: Race, Colonialism and their Influence on International Environmental Law and Environmental Justice in Africa By Olalekan Moyosore Lalude,* Ayodeji J Fatehinse,** Rufus Adeoluwa Olodude*** and Omoniyi Oluwatoyin**** Abstract Environmental justice is becoming more subject to the scrutiny of legal scholarship as it provides answers to questions on the progress of the international environmental legal order in a developing world context. The danger of racial privilege to the realization of environmental justice in Africa is that it ensures that the colonialist structure under which the international environmental law system was formed persists, and thus, eventually denying Africa indigenous legal solutions that would address African environmental problems. This article was an attempt to answer an environmental jurisprudential question on the influence of colonialism on environmental justice in Africa. Doctrinal analysis was the research methodology used in resolving the question posed by this work. It argued that colonialism introduced anthropocentrism and its exploitative essence to Africa. It examined how colonialism persists in denying Africa environmental justice through its enduring legacies of structural inequalities and its elevation of racial imperialism. The article concluded that Africa's environmental justice problems are sustained by colonial legacies and the realization of environmental justice would be through reviewing colonial structures around environmental management. It was recommended that African states must reconsider their developmental models and their approach to the environment for a sustainable future. Keywords: Environmental justice, colonialism, post-colonialism, race, environment, exploitation, Africa * PhD, Lecturer, Faculty of Law, Redeemer's University, Nigeria. ** Lecturer, Faculty of Law, Redeemer's University, Nigeria. *** Doctoral Candidate, Faculty of Law, University of Abuja, Nigeria. **** Lecturer, Faculty of Law, Redeemer's University, Nigeria.