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Citizenship is both dynamic and political, and can be described as entailing a bundle of rights, responsibilities and practices that define membership in a political community.
Citizenship emerges out of relationships between citizens and with institutions – including government – over time and in a variety of social, economic and political spaces.
Citizenship is itself a debated concept and environmental citizenship contributes to ongoing debates in important ways.
Environmental citizenship is about the active participation of citizens in moving towards sustainability. It challenges conventional notions of citizenship to reflect the nature of environmental problems. It is an important part of the shift towards governance (rather than just government) in environmental policy and politics.
Environmental citizenship is not a new concept; it has been written about and set out in policy documents. (See Policies.)
At base, it may be seen as
‘a simple reiteration of a known fact - that the preservation of the environment is an obligation entrusted upon everyone and all governments by virtue of the inherent relationship between people and nature and between citizens and their governments’.
(UN Environment Programme)
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