IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlawss/v14y2025i2p26-d1635537.html

Between Urgency and Exception: Rethinking Legal Responses to the Ecological Crisis

Author

Listed:
  • Houda Alhoussari

    (College of Law, Prince Sultan University, Riyadh 11586, Saudi Arabia
    Western Institute: Law & Europe (IODE), Rennes University, 35000 Rennes, France)

Abstract

The acceleration of the climate crisis calls into question the effectiveness of traditional legal frameworks in addressing environmental emergencies. This article examines whether France should adopt an environmental state of exception, inspired by the legal mechanisms implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. While such exceptional measures could enhance the State’s capacity to respond swiftly to climate threats, they also raise concerns about the concentration of executive power and potential infringements on fundamental rights. Through a comparative legal analysis, this study assesses the benefits and risks of an environmental state of exception, highlighting its potential to accelerate climate action while scrutinizing its democratic and legal implications. It also explores alternative frameworks and advocates for a regulated model of environmental emergency governance, ensuring that urgent climate interventions remain subject to the rule of law and democratic oversight. By drawing on French legal precedents, international climate commitments, and case studies, this research evaluates whether legal exceptionalism is a viable tool for addressing environmental crises or whether a more structured and accountable legal approach would better ensure long-term climate resilience.

Suggested Citation

  • Houda Alhoussari, 2025. "Between Urgency and Exception: Rethinking Legal Responses to the Ecological Crisis," Laws, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-15, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlawss:v:14:y:2025:i:2:p:26-:d:1635537
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-471X/14/2/26/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-471X/14/2/26/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mohamed Elmaghrabi & Ahmed Hassanein & Ahmed Diab, 2025. "How do firm-level and country-level sustainability governance shape corporate sustainability? Insights from environmentally-sensitive industries," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 21(5), pages 1086-1110, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Barkat Ullah, 2025. "Corporate environmental responsibility and firm growth: International evidence from SMEs," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(3), pages 383-406, July.
    2. Ching‐Yuan Hsiao & Yung‐Ming Shiu, 2026. "TCFD Compliance and Decarbonization Practices: Evidence From Taiwan's Financial Institutions," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 33(2), pages 2737-2758, March.
    3. Gurmani Chadha & Monica Singhania & Shikha Gupta, 2026. "The Subliminal Ledger: Measuring and Reporting Corporate Culture's Influence on Social Sustainability," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(S1), pages 470-503, January.
    4. Cem Işık & Serdar Ongan & Rahman Aydın & İlyas Kays İmamoğlu, 2026. "Economic, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ECON ‐ ESG) Strategies For Sustainable Development: Theory and a Holistic Evidence From Germany," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(4), pages 5133-5157, May.
    5. Yuqing Geng & Siqiao Zhao & Xiaohan Zhang & Jianyi Li & Yan Yan & Juan Gao, 2026. "Sustainable Consumption and Production: Research Status, Evolvement, and Trends Over the Recent Two Decades," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(1), pages 416-456, February.
    6. Dejun Zhou & Abednego Osei & Andrew Osei Agyemang & Ishmael Wiredu, 2026. "Strategic ESG Disclosure as Sustainability Innovation: A Diffusion Perspective on Advancing Responsible Consumption and Production Toward SDG 12," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(1), pages 968-992, February.
    7. Muhammad Akhtaruzzaman, 2026. "Exploring the Impact of ESG on Corporate Financial Performance: A Mixed‐Methods Approach," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(2), pages 2058-2071, February.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jlawss:v:14:y:2025:i:2:p:26-:d:1635537. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask MDPI Indexing Manager to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.