An Earth system science-based perspective A foundational feature of Earth system law
Résumé
This chapter argues that emerging rights of nature theory, legal instruments and jurisprudence express qualities of Earth system law (ESL) and, reciprocally, that nature rights can illuminate critical questions about the values and normative orientations of ESL. It provides a brief overview of the rights of nature doctrine and the emergence of nature rights law around the world. The chapter explores three normative themes that are pivotal to emerging conceptions of ESL: promoting an eco-centric approach; embracing complexity, broadly construed; and adopting a planetary perspective. It sketches out a range of ways in which the rights of nature both express these objectives and point the way towards sustainable, adapted law for the Anthropocene. It argues that a further task in developing ESL should be to interrogate the concept of the Anthropocene, and that the rights of nature doctrine can facilitate this critical engagement by its example of normative positioning around this concept.