Exploring the rights of nature

“I would say that my overarching research question is: how can scientific information be better utilised in law to achieve legal objectives?” explains Epstein, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Law at the Department of Law.

To find out, she examines several real-life examples, including the wolf conflict in Sweden. Legally, wolves are covered by the EU Habitats Directive, which is binding on all member states. Under it, wolves cannot be killed because they are threatened with extinction and countries are obliged to have, as it specifies, “a favourable conservation status”. But what does that really mean? Conservationists and animal owners often have very different views on how many wolves we can have in the country.

“The Habitats Directive is intended to maintain the favourable conservation status of species. One of the things I focused on is how we interpret a term like ‘favourable conservation status’ and how can we use the natural sciences to understand it,” explains Epstein.

The law can become toothless

'Favourable conservation status' is just one of many terms that are not well defined in the law, which causes problems when cases are being considered. The law can become toothless and it can even be difficult to agree on what the legislation actually means.

Scientific research on species’ living conditions, ecosystems, the environmental impact of toxins and so on, is an important piece of the puzzle in finding solutions to problems, according to Epstein. This is why her own research projects are interdisciplinary.

“It’s very interesting to study EU laws because they have to be implemented in each member state. One of the things I look at is how different member states deal with scientific information, which can differ. Are there some systems that have worked better than others?” she continues.

At the moment, Epstein has two main projects underway. One is about how to protect biodiversity. She and her colleagues are trying to understand how laws work in practice and are testing different outcomes by feeding laws into ecological models. For example, they have looked at how member states protect predators.

“We have compiled all the case law from each EU member state on when the killing of a large carnivore is authorised. Based on data analyses, we can then look at what influenced the outcome. How is the law, which is the same across the EU, interpreted? Have there been different results in different countries?” she says.

The laws need to be comprehensible

In the second project, she is working with natural scientists to find out what constitutes good natural legislation or legal recognition of the rights of nature.

“For these laws to work, they need to be comprehensible to researchers and to the people responsible for applying the laws. That’s why interdisciplinary perspectives are needed to formulate legislation effectively,” she says.

Elected to the Young Academy of Sweden

Last year, Epstein was elected to the Young Academy of Sweden, an independent, interdisciplinary academy for a selection of the most outstanding young researchers in Sweden.

“It's also a platform to reach out to the public and an opportunity to encourage young people to get involved in science. So I think it's a lot of fun. I've met a lot of interesting people and learned so many things. Earlier this summer, I went to a research station in Abisko and volunteered at a summer camp for secondary school students interested in science. Being a member of the Academy creates all these situations in which I can talk to politicians and young people,” she continues.

Saw an opportunity to contribute to solutions

Her own interest in environmental law was sparked during her law studies at Minnesota Law School in the United States. Besides finding the issues exciting, she saw an opportunity to contribute to solutions to protect the environment in the future.

In 2011, a research programme attracted her to Uppsala University. In 2017, she defended her thesis on how legal conflicts over wolves in both the EU and the US affect the balance of power between the central government and the states.

“As is often the case, it was a bit of serendipity that brought me to my research questions. For the first decade of my research career, I was mainly driven by the interest in the research questions. How does a very human system – the legal system – interact with an essentially non-human system – nature? Now that I'm getting older, I feel more compelled to contribute to solving the big problems: the biodiversity crisis, the climate crisis, pollution. And I feel more capable, or optimistic in a way, that my research can contribute,” concludes Epstein.

Åsa Malmberg