Higher Seminar in Environmental Law

ABSTRACT: During the last decades there has been an increase in legislations that recognize rights of nature (RoN) and a growing number of calls for RoN to be recognized in both in domestic and international law. In this presentation I will critically engage with core reasons for justifying RoN, irrespective of the conditions of domestic legislation. I will suggest that if RoN is to be recognized based on concepts such as intrinsic value and interest – both which are utilized in arguments for RoN – such normative concepts need to be reconceptualized. Inter alia a firm link must be provided between intrinsic value and rights-holding and while a perfectionist view of interests could justify a form of RoN, it requires departing from more robust conceptualizations of interests.

Yet, if some conditions obtain, RoN could be justified in the sense that we could expect legislations to have normative reasons to recognize RoN. However, the potential negative outcomes for the concept of ‘rights’ are significant. Thus, I will scrutinize some of the conceptual, normative, and practical costs that are required to justify RoN, and ask whether it is worth it. Meanwhile, while recognizing RoN has potential to increase environmental conservation and habitat protection, more conventional uses of the conditions underlying rights require less conceptual and normative work.

Please R.S.V.P to Yaffa Epstein at yaffa.epstein@jur.uu.se by the 2nd December. Please let me know if you would like to have lunch at 12 before the seminar

Welcome!