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{{short description|Legal theory}}
{{About|the legal theory of rights of nature|a survey of the legislation based on this school of thought|Rights of nature law}}
{{Rights of nature}}
{{Environmental law}}
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From a rights of nature perspective, most [[environmental law]]s of the twentieth century are based on an outmoded framework that considers nature to be composed of separate and independent parts, rather than components of a larger whole. A more significant criticism is that those laws tend to be subordinate to economic interests, and aim at reacting to and just partially mitigating economics-driven degradation, rather than placing nature's right to thrive as the primary goal of those laws. This critique of existing environmental laws is an important component of tactics such as [[climate change litigation]] that seeks to force societal action to [[mitigate climate change]].
As of June 2021, [[rights of nature law]]s exist at the local to national levels in
==Basic tenets==
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Scientists who similarly wrote in support of expanded human moral development and ethical obligation include naturalist [[John Muir]] and scientist and forester [[Aldo Leopold]]. Leopold expressed that "[w]hen we see land as a community to which we belong", rather than "a commodity belonging to us", we can "begin to use it with love and respect". Leopold offered implementation guidance for his position, stating that a "thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise."<ref name="Leopold 1949"/><ref name="Nash 1989"/>{{efn|name=fn1}} Berry similarly observed that "whatever preserves and enhances this meadow in the natural cycles of its transformation is good; what is opposed to this meadow or negates it is not good."<ref name="Berry 1993"/><ref name="Nash 1989"/> Physician and philosopher [[Albert Schweizer]] defined right actions as those that recognize a reverence for life and the "will to live".<ref name="Schweitzer 1933"/><ref name="Nash 1989"/>
The outgrowth of scientific and ethical advances around natural systems and species is a proposed new frame for legal and governance systems, one grounded in an ethic and a language that guide behavior away from ecological and social practices that ignore or minimize human-nature interconnections.<ref name="UNDESA 2012"/> Court decisions including examples in Ecuador, Colombia and India have relied on these scientific developments in recognizing, interpreting and giving content to the legal rights of nature.<ref name="Epstein2023">{{cite journal | url=https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adf4155 | doi=10.1126/science.adf4155 | title=Science and the legal rights of nature | date=2023 | last1=Epstein | first1=Yaffa | last2=Ellison | first2=Aaron M. | last3=Echeverría | first3=Hugo | last4=Abbott | first4=Jessica K. | journal=Science | volume=380 | issue=6646 | pages=eadf4155 | pmid=37200429 }}</ref> Rather than a vision of merely "[[sustainable development]]", which reflects a frame of nature maintained as economic feedstock, scholars supporting rights of nature suggest that society is beginning to consider visions such as "thriving communities", where "communities" includes nature as a full subject, rather than simply an object to be used.<ref name="Sheehan 2015"/><ref name="Brown & Garver 2009"/>
While some rights-of-nature laws grant rights to nature without any [[duty|duties]], others view nature as a [[legal person]] with rights as well duties and [[legal liability]].<ref name="Epstein2023" />
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<ref name="Thomas Aquinas">{{cite book |author=[[Thomas Aquinas]]|date=1259–1265 |title=Summa Contra Gentiles}}</ref>
<ref name="Catholic News Agency 2007">{{cite news |date= July 26, 2007|title=Pope calls for protection of environment, says creation-evolution debate is 'absurdity' |url=
<ref name="Denny 1998">{{cite journal |first1=Frederick M. |last1=Denny |date=Fall 1998 |title=Islam and Ecology: A Bestowed Trust Inviting Balanced Stewardship |url=http://fore.yale.edu/religion/islam/ |journal=Earth Ethics |volume=10 |issue=1 |access-date=2020-04-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190904044824/http://fore.yale.edu/religion/islam |archive-date=2019-09-04 |url-status=live }}</ref>
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