By now, we are accustomed to thinking of climate change in terms of human rights. What if we were to think as much about the rights of nature itself – of pets and backyard birds, coyotes and spruce trees, mountains and rivers, ecosystems and the climate, the air that surrounds us? How, and with what consequences, might our worldviews expand to encompass the belief that all these entities have inherent rights and therefore should have legal rights as well?
These pieces about the growing global Rights of Nature movement, one grounded in many Indigenous worldviews, begin to answer such questions.
“What are the rights of nature?” Katie Surma, Inside Climate News. This is a top-notch introduction from a reporter who has made this topic central to her work. See also her wide-ranging article focused on global wetlands: “The scientists making the case for nature’s rights.”
“We treat corporations like living things with rights. Why not rivers?” Carlyn Zwarenstein, Salon. This is an excellent interview with Robert Macfarlane, whose terrific 2025 book “Is a River Alive?” explores the practical and philosophical implications of this question through three extended visits to endangered rivers in Ecuador, India, and Canada, plus a spring near his home in England. For a short New York Times op-ed by Macfarlane centered on the recently freed Klamath River, see “Trump’s war on nature is up against a powerful new resistance movement.”
“Wild hope / Does nature have rights?” Nature, PBS, 28-minute video. A lovely look at work in several of Ecuador’s cloud forests, one of which (Los Cedros) is featured in Macfarlane’s book.
“Fighting for a foothold in American law, the rights of nature movement finds new possibilities in a change of venue: the arts.” Katie Surma in Inside Climate News again, this time looking at the difficulty of getting rights-of-nature laws enforced in the U.S. and the potential of the visual arts to change culture, focused on an installation in Cleveland by artist Andrea Bowers.
“Right to ‘exist’: The campaign to give nature a legal status.” Antonia Zimmermann, Politico. A look at efforts in Europe in light of actions taken elsewhere in the world.
“Nature Has a Right to a Stable Climate System: Lessons from the Climate Change Youth Lawsuits.” Ella Johnson, Earth Law Center. This introduction from a legal nonprofit centered on the rights of nature explains the link between those rights and lawsuits such as Juliana v. United States. (Another nonprofit with the same mission is the Center for Environmental Rights.)
“For the first time, part of the ocean has been granted legal personhood.” Isabella Kaminski, Hakai Magazine. An intriguing example from Brazil, where a city has recognized its waves – famed among surfers – as living beings.
“Faith in nature (U.K.) nature governance: nature on the board.” Here’s an example of a business (“natural household and beauty products”) naming “nature” to its board of directors. Cited by Katie Surma, this link leads to the next item.
Eco Jurisprudence Monitor. An extensive and interesting database of rights-of-nature initiatives around the world, including a map, stories, and visuals.
Finally, here are a sample declaration and the 1972 (longish but readable) article that set out the terms for the movement:
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