This article by Karen Coulter was posted by the Program on Corporations Law and Democracy on March, 2020.
Why Rights for Nature?
The Rights for Nature concept would create an ethical and legal system, which is necessary to counter capitalist or corporate exploitation of Nature. The aim of converting Nature into commodities without reference to ecological limits fails to account for losses of life sources and potentially irreparable harm to life support systems. It is necessary to cap the rate of economic increase in the “standard of living” by stabilizing and reducing the total human population and human consumption of Nature.
Rights for Nature concepts are necessary to develop an effective body of law fully protecting Nature in order to influence societal ethics and norms needed for a shift from the view that Nature exists for humans. Whether we will be able to bring about the needed institutional and human population and consumption changes depends upon affecting a radical shift in our societal perception of human’s place in Nature. Throughout legal history, each successive extension of rights to a new entity has been at first socially unthinkable, such as extensions of rights in the U.S. to women, children, African Americans, and indigenous peoples. Until the rightless entity receives its (or their) rights, people can’t see it or them except as a thing for the use of those holding rights.
Our reliance on property concepts as the basis of our law and societal value system has a stultifying effect on personal growth and satisfaction. Christopher Stone, the author of Should Trees Have Standing, quotes Hegel’s justification of private property as typifying the blindness and egoism of viewing the world through a property ownership lens: “A person has as his substantive end the right of putting his will into any and everything and thereby making it his, because it has no such end in itself and derives its destiny and soul from his will. This is the absolute right of appropriation which man has over all ‘things’.” (G. Hegel, Hegel’s Philosophy of Right)
This cultural view of the domination of humans over Nature allows for even our environmental protection laws to be grossly biased toward usefulness to humans taking priority over ecological integrity, with functioning ecosystems and biodiversity. For instance, the preamble declaration for the National Environmental Policy Act states goals of “restoring and maintaining environmental quality to the overall welfare and development of man” and creating and maintaining “conditions under which man and nature can exist in productive harmony.” (emphasis mine) Moving away from the view that Nature is just a collection of useful non-sentient objects cultivates deepening of our humility, empathy, and love.
To read the rest of this article at its original source please click HERE.