Standing for Nature
Legal Strategies for Environmental Justice
Rights of Nature laws are becoming a vital tool for addressing environmental injustice. From New Zealand and India to Ecuador and Bolivia, advocates have successfully secured legal rights for rivers, forests, and mountains. Granting rights to nature has the potential to expand environmental protections, strengthen indigenous rights, promote sustainable development, and alter how humans relate to nature. Despite these promises, rights of Nature laws have met with greater resistance in some countries than in others.
Standing for Nature offers advocates a blueprint for creating, implementing, and safeguarding rights of Nature laws. This book looks closely at four examples—New Zealand, Colombia, Bangladesh, and the United States—to explain why these laws have been successful in some places but not others. Through this comparative exploration, the authors highlight key strategies for advancing rights of Nature laws in the United States and around the world. These lessons include an examination of different legal traditions to better understand which is the best form of law—judicial, legislative, or regulatory—for advocates to target; how to ensure effective implementation once a law is passed; and how to shift communal perspectives on the human-Nature relationship for better implementation and enforcement.
This book is essential for environmental lawyers, policy makers, and advocates interested in gaining new knowledge and tools for championing rights of Nature laws in their own communities.
Rights of Nature entered the zeitgeist as an idea that could revolutionize both law and culture by recalibrating humanity’s currently exploitative relationship with the rest of life on Earth. This thoughtful, well-written book provides a balanced and insightful guide for advocates navigating the difficult road from idea to societal transformation.'
Rights of Nature entered the zeitgeist as an idea that could revolutionize both law and culture by recalibrating humanity’s currently exploitative relationship with the rest of life on Earth. This thoughtful, well-written book provides a balanced and insightful guide for advocates navigating the difficult road from idea to societal transformation.
A beautifully written book; the authors' rich analysis of key rights of Nature cases offers compelling and practical insights for advocates and scholars.
A beautifully written book; the authors' rich analysis of key rights of Nature cases offers compelling and practical insights for advocates and scholars.
Fabian Cardenas is a professor of International Law at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá and director of the Centre of Studies on Law and Sustainability. He has worked with the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the International Criminal Court in the The Hague.
Mohammad Golam Sarwar is an assistant professor of Law at the University of Dhaka in Bangladesh and a doctoral researcher at SOAS, University of London. He has served as a legal consultant to the Bangladesh Ministry of Foreign Affairs, UN Development Programme, and the International Labour Organization.
Introduction
Chapter 1: Understanding the “Rights” in Rights of Nature
Chapter 2: Legal Tradition as a Tool for Environmental Justice Advocacy
Chapter 3: From the Mountains to the Sea: Aotearoa New Zealand
Chapter 4: Riverine Reflections and Responsibilities: Bangladesh
Chapter 5: Rights of Nature for Future Generations: Colombia
Chapter 6: Rights of Nature and the Challenges of Individualism: The United States
Chapter 7: Thrive and Survive: Tools for Effective Implementation of Rights of Nature Laws
Chapter 8: Moving Forward: Challenges and Change
Appendix: Seventeen Directives from the Bangladeshi Court Decision
Notes
Bibliography
About the Authors
