Rights of nature law

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This article is about the legislation, case law, and treaties based on the legal theory of rights of nature. For the overview of the legal theory itself, see Rights of nature.

Rights of nature law is the codification and other implementations of the legal and jurisprudential theory of the rights of nature. This legal school of thought describes inherent rights as associated with ecosystems and species, similar to the concept of fundamental human rights.[1][2][3][4]

The early 2000s saw a significant expansion of rights of nature law, in the form of constitutional provisions, treaty agreements, national and subnational statutes, local laws, and court decisions.[5] As of 2022, nature's rights laws exist at the local to national levels in 39 countries,[6][7][8][9][10] including in Canada,[11] at least seven Tribal Nations in the U.S. and Canada, and over 60 cities and counties throughout the United States.[7][12][13][14] The total number of initiatives was 409 as of June 2021.[15][7][5][9] The EcoJurisprudence Monitor lists over 500 as of early 2024.[1]

New Zealand - in 2012 a treaty agreement between the government and the indigenous group Maori iwi established the Whanganui River (top image), and its tributaries as a legal entity with its own standing.[16][17][12] Similarly, Mount Taranaki (bottom image) was recognized in 2014 as "a legal personality, in its own right".[18][19]
  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Cullinan 2011 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Berry 1999 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Stone 1996 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Nash 1989 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Kauffman 2020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Putzer, Alex; Lambooy, Tineke; Jeurissen, Ronald; Kim, Eunsu (2022-01-01). "Putting the rights of nature on the map. A quantitative analysis of rights of nature initiatives across the world". Journal of Maps. 18 (1): 89–96. Bibcode:2022JMaps..18...89P. doi:10.1080/17445647.2022.2079432. hdl:11382/550531. ISSN 1744-5647.
  7. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Kauffman Sep 2022 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Sheehan April 2020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference United Nations, Harmony with Nature - list of initiatives was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Kauffman 2021 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Reuters 2021 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Kauffman & Sheehan 2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference Houck 2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference Boyd 2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Putzer, Alex; Lambooy, Tineke; Jeurissen, Ronald; Kim, Eunsu (2022-01-01). "Putting the rights of nature on the map. A quantitative analysis of rights of nature initiatives across the world". Journal of Maps. 18 (1): 89–96. Bibcode:2022JMaps..18...89P. doi:10.1080/17445647.2022.2079432. hdl:11382/550531. ISSN 1744-5647.
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference Kauffman & Martin 2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference Magallanes & Sheehan 2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference Cheng 2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference Roy 2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).