Exploring Environmental Law, Activism, and the Rights of Nature

When an idea is shown to have repeatedly failed, at what point are we allowed to ask for something different? By most popular environmental metrics, whether it be river water quality, biodiversity loss, urban tree cover, woodland diversity, air quality etc, the steady decline in the UK’s natural world is an indictment of existing approaches to the management and protection of the environment. Combine this with the increasing urgency of the global environmental crisis and it is easy to understand and even share in the growing frustration across the country. River Action. Just Stop Oil. Extinction Rebellion.

Our rivers are in crisis. Every single river in England is polluted beyond legal limits. Our wildlife is disappearing, and our rivers are not fit to swim in.

Lawyers for Nature is primarily a volunteer-based organisation, however recently, we gratefully received funding which allows us to focus on our Rights of Nature and Nature-based Corporate Governance objectives. It’s a very exciting time for the organisation as we seek to progress these cutting-edge legal fields. It also means that we’re hiring for a Research Assistant with an interest in Lawyers for Nature, our mission, and this new fully-funded workstream.

Yesterday the Irish Citizens’ Assembly on Biodiversity Loss published their latest report. We are really pleased to see that among the 150 recommendations, the Constitutional Recognition of Rights of Nature features. This follows a submission by a coalition including LFN's Claire Nevin about the importance of Rights of Nature in responding to the biodiversity crisis.

Magazine articles and blogs, conference videos and podcasts, books and films: we are awash with information and ideas, making it hard for any, however good, to break through. Occasionally, one does and, happily, that appears to be the case with Giving Nature a Seat on the Board.

The concept of Rights of Nature challenges the way many human beings see the world, a mindset of the natural environment being seen, either actively or passively, as a commodity to be dominated and exploited for the sake of profit or consumption. This idea is deeply encoded in global institutions, including our anthropocentric legal systems. Rights of Nature proposes a shift in our way of thinking about the complex interrelations between humans and nature.‍

This time last year, I had just returned from COP26, and along with many others, had been questioning the legitimacy of its outcomes. Participation in the conference had been compromised by restrictive travel rules due to the ongoing pandemic, and visa and accommodation issues. These restrictions had primarily affected the attendance of civil society and Indigenous peoples in the Blue Zone and outside.

When I was born, CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere were 348 parts per million. This year, the concentration rose to 421 PPM; the highest levels seen in 3 to 5 million years and far higher than any level previously experienced by human civilisation. The climate and ecological crises this simple fact gives rise to will be the single most important part of all our lives, whether we know it yet or not.‍

We’ve covered Denial, Gratitude, Facing Reality, Climate Grief. This post covers Stage 5 and Stage 6.