The Personhood of NatureMarina Lostal in conversation with Nancy Couling

The Rights of Nature movement proposes that nature should not be treated only as property or a resource for human use. Instead, rivers, forests, territories and other ecosystems should be recognised as subjects of law. This talk introduces the core idea behind the movement and explains how it has developed into law through different legal models: rights in Ecuador, legal personality in New Zealand, and a hybrid formulation in Spain. The talk also warns of an important risk. As these ideas enter legal
systems, existing environmental law frameworks may end up colonising the rights of nature. This can reflect a kind of institutional inertia:
new concepts are absorbed into familiar principles that continue to prioritise economic interests and resource management.
If that happens, the recognition of nature’s rights may reproduce the very problem it was meant to challenge: nature’s commodification and its subordination to economic value.

DR MARINA LOSTAL
is a Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Essex.
Her research advances the recognition of ecosystems as victims of international crimes and contributes to emerging debates on the implementation of rights of nature. She has worked as a reparations expert at the International Criminal Court and has advised organisations including UNESCO and the Colombian Special Jurisdiction for Peace on issues including cultural heritage, and environmental protection in situations of conflict.