The relationship between the rule of law and environmental sustainability: empirical evidence from the analysis of global indices

ABSTRACT

The rule of law has been found central in promoting environmental sustainability. While existing literature has examined certain aspects of the rule of law and environmental sustainability in analyzing their association, there remains a gap in our understanding of the intricate linkages between these two concepts. Specifically, there is a lack of a holistic approach to exploring the relationship between the rule of law and environmental sustainability. To address this gap, this study aims to conduct a thorough examination of the relationship between the rule of law and environmental sustainability. Our study, based on the rule of law index (ROLI) and the environmental performance index (EPI), reveals that environmental performance is closely associated with the rule of law. Environmental performance is particularly related to certain dimensions of the rule of law, such as ‘constraints on government powers’, ‘open government’, ‘fundamental rights’, and ‘criminal justice’. However, it should be noted that regional variations exist. For instance, the ROLI and the EPI are not clearly associated in the least-developed countries. Overall, results show that the rule of law plays an important role in enhancing environmental performance across developing and developed countries. Our study suggests considering the importance of community engagement and an effective, impartial, and independent justice system to improve environmental performance.

Key policy highlights

• The rule of law is fundamental in promoting and ensuring environmental sustainability.

• We examine the relationship between indicators of the rule of law and environmental sustainability.

• We use data from the Rule of Law Index (ROLI) and Environmental Performance Index (EPI).

• We provide a global analysis and elaborate on regional variations.

• We discuss mediating factors that may influence the nexus.

KEYWORDS:

• Environmental sustainability
• rule of law
• environmental performance index
• rule of law index
• open government
• criminal justice

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/13504509.2024.2371159.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nausheen Atta

Nausheen Atta is a PhD scholar at the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Hiroshima University. Her work is focused on the interaction between the rule of law and environmental sustainability.

Ayyoob Sharifi

Ayyoob Sharifi is a Professor at the IDEC Institute, Hiroshima University. He also has cross-appointments at the Graduate School of Innovation and Practice for Smart Society and the Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering. His research is mainly at the interface of urbanism and climate change mitigation and adaptation. Ayyoob actively contributes to global change research programs such as the Future Earth and has served as a lead author for the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Before joining Hiroshima University, he was the Executive Director of the Global Carbon Project (GCP)-a Future Earth core project- leading the urban flagship activity of the project, which is focused on conducting cutting-edge research for supporting climate change mitigation and adaptation in cities. Ayyoob is interested in pursuing research at the interface of climate change and urban planning. The ultimate goal of his research is to provide further insights into how to develop sustainable, peaceful, just, and resilient communities.

Chui Ying Lee

Chui Ying Lee is an associate professor at Hiroshima University. She is especialized in Development Economics and Environmental Economics. Her research interest mainly lies in the empirical analysis of developing nations’ development economics fields and decarbonization initiatives. It includes and is not limited to policy evaluation, roles and decisions of individuals, households, firms, and government, and its consequences in broad terms. She also pays attention to Evidence-Based Policy Making (EBPM) and causal inferences.