Rights of Nature

Rights of Nature

Current law places human beings at the center of moral and legal consideration. It reflects our prevailing societal perspective that the world revolves around us and that nature is primarily a mere resource to be used for our benefit and economic gain.

But decades of environmental degradation, in conjunction with our climate crisis and looming mass extinction, are testimony that homocentric governance is failing us and the natural world. We need a fundamental shift in our relationship with Earth’s ecosystems. Attitudes and laws need to change.

Eco-centric governance recognizes that all living beings and ecosystems have intrinsic value independent of humans, and it treats us as a part of nature, not separate from or superior to it. Ultimately, human well-being and economic vitality demands that we live within nature’s laws and limitations. Legally recognizing the rights of nature to exist and to maintain and regenerate its vital cycles helps us do this. It helps ensure we leave future generations an Earth as healthy and sustaining as it should be.

In 2020, the SWFL RESET Center supported Florida’s Orange County in becoming the largest municipality in the United States to pass a Rights of Nature law. Our legislature quickly preempted the authority of local governments to pass such laws. Nevertheless, the SWFL RESET Center supports the principles of Rights of Nature and the change in our relationship with the natural world they provide.

Essential Reading
Noah’s Second Voyage: Rights of Nature as Law
Oliver A. Houck.  Essential reading from co-author of the Clean Water Act.
https://www.occompt.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/2019-08-08-Noahs-Second-Voyage-The-Rights-of-Nature-as-Law.pdf

Recommended Viewing
SWFL RESET Center Rights of Nature webinar with Thomas Linzey and Chuck O’Neal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQnr6sxvUj0&feature=youtu.be

Additional information

Florida Rights of Nature Network
Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights: 
https://www.centerforenvironmentalrights.org/

Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund:  
https://celdf.org/