Rights of nature: A natural law

Reflecting on a growing movement, Emily Sutton explores why our legal systems and doctrines must evolve to accommodate a deeper recognition of the value of nature - and share's the Trust's stance.

^ A view down the banks of the River Ouse, south of Lewes, East Sussex.

The idea of a world in which forests and entire ecosystems have the right to flourish and regenerate, and where rivers are protected by people who could represent them in court and fight to enforce those rights is a fascinating one. It is also an idea that is framed by urgency, because we are losing nature on an epic scale.

A 2021 publication by Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta from the University of Cambridge found that nature is “our most precious asset”, and that the last few decades of human prosperity have taken a “devastating” ecological toll.

The Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review highlighted that we would need 1.6 Earths to maintain humanity’s current way of life; that biological diversity is declining faster now than at any time in human history; and that, since 1970, there has been, on average, almost a 70 per cent reduction in the populations of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians globally.

While nature has inherent and incalculable worth, it’s also true that it provides natural dividends or ecosystem services to us. But because nature has not been represented on the balance sheet, it has suffered.

A leading idea to increase environmental protection is to reconstruct economics to include nature as an ingredient – as suggested by Professor Dasgupta and advocated by Kate Raworth in her bestselling book Doughnut Economics. This idea is supported by Sir David Attenborough who wrote the foreword to the Dasgupta Review and has similarly recognised economics as a discipline that shapes decisions of the utmost consequence.

Published in autumn 2024, Natural England’s State of Natural Capital Report for England found that the economy and society are intimately dependent on the health of the natural environment. And given that interdependence, the report questioned why, if nature is so important, is it still declining? It found a critical reason to be that nature is often missing in decision making, even when it is highly relevant.

Nature jurisprudence

The development of ‘nature jurisprudence’, the legal philosophy that emphasises a non-anthropocentric relationship with nature, is complementary in my view to Dasgupta’s thinking because it gives nature an enhanced legal platform from which to advocate.

Many naturalists will prefer nature jurisprudence to the next-gen economics approach, because it shows nature to have inalienable rights independent of humans. My own view is that we need the combination of many approaches to protect the natural world effectively. We need global institutions to focus on nature loss, companies and investors to respond and a community-led movement to confer legal personality on certain elements of nature.

It’s interesting to see the paradigm shift that is happening in the corporate sphere to reflect the nature rights movement, with some companies making nature protection a central part of their business and giving nature a voice in the boardroom.

^ Faith in Nature founder, Rivka Rose.

Spearheaded by the organisation Lawyers for Nature, the cosmetics company Faith in Nature has appointed a ‘nature director’; the idea being to consider the impact of decisions on nature, and ask the question ‘what would nature say’?

More than 400 companies have adopted a voluntary risk management and disclosure framework for organisations to assess, report and act on evolving nature-related dependencies, impacts, risks and opportunities – the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures. In some cases, executive remuneration has been tied to performance on environmental issues.

Legal personality

There are now examples from around the world of courts having granted legal personality to bodies of water and forests. Nature has also gained rights via legislation. In 2021, joint resolutions issued by the regional municipality of Minganie and the Innu Council of Ekuanitshit granted the Magpie River in Canada nine legal rights in accordance with Innu customary law, following a decade long community- led campaign.

The river flows almost 300kms across northern Quebec and has great cultural significance for the Ekuanitshit community. These nine legal rights include the right to flow, to maintain its natural biodiversity, to regenerate and be restored, and the right to sue. We don’t yet know how the court will interpret the law but many are hopeful that this approach will be effective.

In 2016, Colombia’s Constitutional Court recognised the Atrato River in the northwest of the country as a legal subject. Since then, other decisions have granted legal personality to further Colombian rivers, but also to other ecosystems such as Lake Tota, the Pisba Highlands and parts of the Colombian Amazon. While research on the material impacts of the ruling on environmental governance and protection is hard to find, it is argued that the indirect impacts of these court decisions are significant.

^ Whanganui River, New Zealand.

Elsewhere, under Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Act 2017, Te Awa Tupua, the Whanganui River, in New Zealand’s North Island, has been declared as “a legal person [that] has all the rights, powers, duties, liabilities of a legal person”, and a board (Te Pou Tupua) established as the human race of the river.

Based on Te Ao Mãori, the indigenous Mãori world view, the legislation acknowledges the interrelationships between humans and nature, and recognises the intrinsic value and cultural significance of the river. While the river has rights, these are impacted by existing rights and interests of others and various statutory schemes.

Te Urewera – a large area of forested land – has also been granted rights using a similar approach, with the relevant legislation setting out a framework for governance and management of the forest.

Building strength

Recently, the rights of the River Ouse, which flows through West and East Sussex, have been formally recognised by Lewes District Council – bringing it a step closer to becoming the first UK river to be granted legal personhood.

Since the announcement of the council’s Rights of River motion, many other river-focused groups, wildlife trusts and other local authorities in England have shown interest in working towards implementing rights for their rivers.

On a much grander scale, a new bill introduced in New York aims to protect the largest freshwater ecosystem in the world - the Great Lakes. Although the Great Lakes provide water for 40 million people across the US and Canada, they are badly affected by sewage, industrial waste, plastic pollution and toxic algae blooms.

If made law, the bill would grant the Great Lakes and other freshwater ecosystems in New York State fundamental rights such as the right to ‘exist, persist, flourish, naturally evolve, regenerate, and be restored’.

“All people deserve healthy ecosystems and clean water and recognising the inherent rights of nature to exist and flourish is the best way to protect this,” comments Assemblyman Patrick Burke who introduced the bill.

What these examples demonstrate is that nature can have legal rights, and that a rights-based discourse is developing. We need to pull every lever available to evolve our law and economics in order to protect the natural world.

About the author

Currently with the UK civil service, Emily Sutton has worked in the private, public, and third sectors here and in New Zealand as a senior legal adviser, advocate and organiser on climate and environmental issues. Emily is also a Trustee of the John Muir Trust.

The Trust’s stance

In Scotland, the right to a healthy environment (including substantive and procedural rights) was the subject of a rights-based conversation in 2023 on a stronger framework for environmental accountability, but this has not progressed into law.

Other countries, such as Iceland, provide models for this approach and it is something the Trust may consider in future, for example as the Scottish Government considers the future of the National Performance Framework and a possible Future Generations Commissioner.

The Trust is working to establish a Wild Places Index, which has been devised to measure the attrition of wild places over time. This could also support the legal designation of wild places. The goal is to ensure that future generations will inherit lands where we can witness the freedom of nature with minimal human intervention given social and geographical constraints.

Launched in March, the redesigned John Muir Award provides inclusive, flexible learning for children, young people and adults – encouraging all to connect with, enjoy and care for wild places throughout the UK. The Award’s four challenges focus on gaining an awareness of how vital wild places are and learning that is underpinned with meaningful, practical actions.