HUMAN RIGHTS & THE RIGHTS OF NATURE: FRIENDS OR FOES?
Abstract:
This Article explores the connections between human rights and the rights of nature. Rights of nature is emerging as a global movement to re-think and move away from dominant anthropocentric approaches to law. As it is based on the idea that nature has inherent rights, rights of nature is often labelled as the “human rights of nature.” However, this association with human rights, which are by nature anthropocentric, is also paradoxical. In exploring this paradoxical association between human rights and the rights of nature, this article argues that despite the anthropocentric nature of human rights, there are some strong alignments developing around the evolution of the right to a healthy environment. As analyzed in this Article, there is an emergent jurisprudence linking human rights law and the rights of nature which offers new perspective to understand how rights of nature might work in practice notably when rights are competing or clashing. One interest in associating human rights and the rights of nature is that human rights law is enriched by decades of legal developments, a diverse jurisprudence, and abundant campaigning and advocacy tools. With rights of nature being much “younger,” there might be lessons to be learned from the “older” human rights movement. The argument put forward is that there are some legal principles that have been developed under international human rights law that could serve as a catalyst to support future rights of nature advocacy.
Recommended Citation: Jérémie Gilbert, Human Rights & the Rights of Nature: Friends or Foes?, 47 Fordham Int'l L.J. 447 (2024).