The recognition of the rights of nature (RoN) is gaining momentum worldwide and represents a significant paradigm shift, from nature seen as a resource or object of protection to a subject of rights on its own. RoN is increasingly lauded as the legal transformation needed to address the pressing social-environmental crises of our time, including climate change, habitat destruction, and biodiversity loss.
To fully understand how human beings relate to the non-human environment, to comprehend and act upon the obligations we have towards that environment and to each other, and to navigate and creatively re-think our social, legal, and political approaches to non-human nature, we need more cross-disciplinary dialogue and understandings notably between humanities, social sciences, and environmental sciences.
Though legal rights of nature have been introduced in various countries across the world, a full analysis of these rights from an interdisciplinary perspective is required for these rights to be properly understood, interpreted, and acted upon.
A holistic analysis of RoN requires (at least): a scientific understanding of the nature of the ecosystems in question, as well as of the constituent flora and fauna; an understanding of the natural entity, an ethical analysis of the rights and duties in question; a philosophical grasp of the relevant concepts; a comprehension of the socio-economic path dependencies and consequences associated with granting rights to nature; and a socio-legal analysis of how those rights are adequately represented and defended within a particular legal system.
As well as the humanities offering a critical analysis of RoN and its application, the arts can offer the kinds of creative reimagining of our relationship with nature required to reflect on usefulness and new governance arrangements such as RoN, initiate a societal dialogue and boost action on increasingly urgent environmental challenges.
