This article is about the legal theory of rights of nature. For a survey of the legislation based on this school of thought, see Rights of nature law.
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Rights of nature or Earth rights is a legal and jurisprudential theory that describes inherent rights as associated with ecosystems and species, similar to the concept of fundamental human rights. The rights of nature concept challenges twentieth-century laws as generally grounded in a flawed frame of nature as "resource" to be owned, used, and degraded. Proponents argue that laws grounded in rights of nature direct humanity to act appropriately and in a way consistent with modern, system-based science, which demonstrates that humans and the natural world are fundamentally interconnected.
This school of thought is underpinned by two basic lines of reasoning. First, since the recognition of human rights is based in part on the philosophical belief that those rights emanate from humanity's own existence, logically, so too do inherent rights of the natural world arise from the natural world's own existence. A second and more pragmatic argument asserts that the survival of humans depends on healthy ecosystems, and so protection of nature's rights in turn, advances human rights and well-being.
From a rights of nature perspective, most environmental laws of the twentieth century are based on an outmoded framework that considers nature to be composed of separate and independent parts, rather than components of a larger whole. A more significant criticism is that those laws tend to be subordinate to economic interests, and aim at reacting to and just partially mitigating economics-driven degradation, rather than placing nature's right to thrive as the primary goal of those laws. This critique of existing environmental laws is an important component of tactics such as climate change litigation that seeks to force societal action to mitigate climate change.
As of June 2021, rights of nature laws exist at the local to national levels in at least 39 countries, including dozens of cities and counties throughout the United States. They take the form of constitutional provisions, treaty agreements, statutes, local ordinances, and court decisions. A state constitutional provision is being sought in Florida.[1]
^Putzer, Alex; Lambooy, Tineke; Jeurissen, Ronald; Kim, Eunsu (2022-06-13). "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.
Rightsofnature or Earth rights is a legal and jurisprudential theory that describes inherent rights as associated with ecosystems and species, similar...
Nature and to inform a more clarified content to those rights. Articles 10 and 71–74 of the Ecuadorian Constitution recognize the inalienable rights of...
Rightsofnature law is the codification and other implementations of the legal and jurisprudential theory of the rightsofnature. This legal school of...
development and the rightsofnature, both aimed at addressing anthropogenic environmental crises. In 2009, the United Nations created a program of the same name...
rights are rights which are "natural" in the sense of "not artificial, not man-made", as in rights deriving from human nature or from the edicts of a...
such as rivers. Environmental personhood, which assigns nature (or aspects of it) certain rights, concurrently provides a means to individuals or groups...
released on February 16, 2018 through BMG Rights Management (which also owns the song publishing rights to Nature Cat). On June 5, 2018, the first DVD Onward...
content, nature and justifications of human rights to this day. The precise meaning of the term right is controversial and is the subject of continued...
rightsofnature. The country's name means "Equator" in Spanish, truncated from the Spanish official name, República del Ecuador (lit. "Republic of the...
state of society by establishing a nation-state?". In some versions of social contract theory, there are freedoms, but no rights in the state ofnature; and...
distinguish two types ofrights, natural rights and legal rights. Natural rights are those that are not dependent on the laws or customs of any particular culture...
prosecution of this sort of activity as terrorism. For some the basis of animal rights is in religion or animal worship (or in general nature worship), with some...
The United States Bill ofRights comprises the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. Proposed following the often bitter 1787–88 debate...
Holocene extinction Involuntary manslaughter List of environmental issues Operation Ranch Hand Rightsofnature Scorched earth War on drugs#Aerial herbicide...
related to this article: Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by...
this law) Great ape personhood Legal personality Pachamama Plant rightsRightsofNature Law on Mother Earth is passed, Evo will present it in Cancun. "Sancionan...
protection is rightsofnature which tries to extend the rights enjoyed by humans and corporations to nature as well. The right creates an obligation of the state...
civil and political in nature: They serve negatively to protect the individual from excesses of the state. First-generation rights include, among other...
foundation of all property rights. Thomas Jefferson once said in a letter to Isaac McPherson on 13 August 1813: If nature has made any one thing less...
Legal Rights for Natural Objects. The legal and jurisprudential theory of the rightsofnature, similar to the concept of fundamental human rights presented...
of the country). In 2011, the United Nations Human Rights Council passed its first resolution recognizing LGBT rights, following which the Office of the...
rights, one of which is the rightsofnature. In line with the assertion of these rights, buen vivir seeks to change the relationship between nature and...
remedy violations of these rights. The rights approach is a break away from traditional environmental regulatory systems, which regard nature as property and...
violations of the rightsof the Earth and of the rightsofnature. This is ecocide.” Vandana supports the idea of seed freedom, or the rejection of patents on...
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