Rights of nature in Ireland: towards a living island of rights-bearing communities. Submission to the Citizens’ Assembly on Biodiversity Loss

Abstract

There is growing interest in the concept of ‘Rights of Nature’ and the legal possibilities it offers as a means of protecting the natural world when regulatory efforts fail. David Boyd, the current UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment, has defined Rights of Nature as “the rights of non-human species, elements of the natural environment and inanimate objects to a continued existence unthreatened by human activities”.2 In a practical and legal sense, the concept is centred on the premise that Nature’s integrity and regenerative capacity have the intrinsic right to flourish and the right to defence in a court of law against harms, with the authority of constitutional law where necessary.