The weight of words: how constitutional environmental human rights shape emissions

Abstract

The association between constitutional environmental human rights (CER) and carbon dioxide emissions is explored in a panel data, Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) framework. Our sample includes nearly 200 countries across 1990-2021, leveraging World Bank and Polity IV data. Furthermore, we construct an eight-category language-based index for CER strength, drawing on constitutional text analysis from existing sources. To account for the obvious endogeneity within the basic panel fixed effects framework, we introduce a panel fixed effects instrumental variables framework. This latter framework demonstrates that CER provisions have a strong, mitigating effect on carbon dioxide emissions thus extending the growing research in this area from general environmental harm (quality) to a measurable harm (quality).