Legal challenges in the recognition of Nature’s rights in Europe: Unlearning the capitalisation of life

Identifier:  imarina:9374975

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/imarina9374975

Authors:  Susana Borràs Pentinat

Abstract:
The aim of this article is to analyse the debate on the recognition of the rights of Nature in the European Union (EU), through the existing legal possibilities and systemic challenges that underlie a paradigm shift that must necessarily take place in order to reverse the anthropocentric view of Nature held by Western societies. Reinventing our relationship with Nature and protecting it is possible through European Union law, and more specifically through the rights of Nature. This undoubtedly means decapitalising the importance of Nature and affirming its intrinsic value, which entails questioning the levers on which environmental protection has been built in the EU. Despite the limitations existing in the EU, this has not been an obstacle for some EU Member States to promote initiatives to recognise the rights of some natural elements, demonstrating that a change in the socio-legal paradigm is possible.