Exploring Environmental Law, Activism, and the Rights of Nature

We wanted to share some positive news from the world of Rights of Nature. It’s these moments that remind us why we’re reimagining the law for Nature—ensuring it has the opportunity to thrive and flourish, just as it should.

Lawyers for Nature are excited to be attending the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 16) in the city of Cali in Colombia between 21 October–1 November 2024. ‍

We are excited to update you about our event on Monday at the Phoenix Garden next week on Monday 23rd September. We have planned an evening of talks and discussion to connect nature, law and practice for us all. There will also be some delicious nourishing vegan food. There are still some tickets available so if you’d like to join us, we’d love to have you. To get tickets, click here.

Last week, LFN founder Paul Powlesland was called to serve on a jury. For his oath, he decided to swear on what was most sacred to him: nature, via the River Roding, represented in the courtroom by a water sample in a small bottle.

Are you a lawyer concerned about the state of nature and the meta-crisis we face? Are you interested in using the law as a powerful tool to protect and restore nature? Do you want to understand how you can use your skill set to make a difference?

In an interesting recent Rights of Nature development, the municipal council of Linhares, a coastal city in southeastern Brazil's Espirito Santo State, has recognised the waves of the Doce River Mouth (‘as Ondas na Foz do Rio Doce’) as having legal rights.

We’ve been reflecting on our time at the Garden of Tomorrow from House of Hackney. As a neurodiverse bunch, we at Lawyers for Nature need to take time to rest and digest after we participate in incredible events like this one. We leave this glorious 3-day festival with the following.‍

So far, the Green Party is the only party with Rights of Nature laws mentioned in their party manifesto. Our hope is that political candidates from other parties might also begin to support the idea that there is a need to change our whole legal system to restore and benefit Nature. Stopping the destruction of the natural world is vitally important, yet current proposals do not go far enough. Last weekend, on Saturday 22nd June, over 60,000 people marched in London to demand: Restore Nature Now.

The Rights of Nature (RoN) movement in the UK has been newly revitalised over recent years. There was an early flurry of activity around 2005-2010, clustered around the UK Environmental Law Association (UKELA), which included some conferences, an excellent research report analysing the extent to which Wild Law already existed around the world, and annual Wild Law weekends (which continue!).