Environmental Litigation on the Rights of Nature

Since at least the well-publicized 1972 Supreme Court decision in Sierra Club v. Morton 405 U.S. 727, private parties have activated courts to prevent or ameliorate environmental degradation by suing on behalf of the natural world. Attorneys will become acquainted with the origins and current status of this legal strategy, which is now recognized by various tribal peoples in twelve countries. Indeed, nature’s right to exist is now enshrined in the Ecuadorian constitution and recognized by various statutes such as in New Zealand, the Quebec municipality of Minganie in Canada, and most recently Florida. Attendant litigation both domestically and internationally on the right of “nature” to exist and to be protected from harm is thus underway. These efforts derive from the “Rights of Nature Movement” and build upon earlier frustrated efforts of environmental activist groups such as the EarthFirst! and Earth Liberation Front (ELF) in the United States that frequently employed extralegal means to defend the natural world. This new wave of statutes and litigation on behalf of “nature” as suits on behalf of specific organisms, species, ecosystems, and natural phenomena such as rivers, are thus now seeking to work with legal bounds to achieve elusive environmental sustainability goals.

This program will consider efforts to legislatively and judicially defend the rights of nature via statutes and lawsuits on behalf of the natural world. Some of the salient themes include the historical failure of extralegal activism resulting in criminal prosecution, statutory recognition of the rights of “nature,” standing issues (e.g., nature such as water bodies or species having standing versus residents or communities filing suit on their behalf), and remedies for harm (e.g., injunctions and restoration to pre-damaged state). This conversation is situated in both an historical and transnational context as this legal strategy has continued to gain recognition.

Attorneys who represent clients with interests in environmental issues particularly in the context of water bodies, species diversity, community health, and first peoples particularly in the context of the conflict between environmental social justice and traditional “western” legal property rights, should attend this program.

Learning Objectives:

• Explore the emergence of the “Rights of Nature” movement
• Hear recent developments and litigation strategies on the Rights of Nature
• Understand Rights of Nature in a broader context