Paving the Way for Rights of Nature in Germany: Lessons Learnt from Legal Reform in New Zealand and Ecuador

Abstract

This article examines the concept of granting legal rights to nature as a strategy for more effective environmental protection in the era of the Anthropocene. Following decades of debate over the possibility and consequences of natural objects becoming legal rights holders, a number of countries have recently implemented rights of nature laws in their national legal systems. Comparing two of these examples – a constitutional amendment in Ecuador and recently transposed legislation in New Zealand – will help in understanding the potential for and challenges in the implementation of this concept. On the basis of the findings of this comparison the article further analyzes the possibility of legal reform in a European country, using Germany by way of example. This analysis demonstrates that the realization of rights of nature in Europe is faced with many obstacles as it contests institutional and legal frameworks that are deeply rooted in Western individual rights doctrines and neoliberal economic models. Nevertheless, the holistic approach of expanding the number of rights-bearing subjects beyond an anthropocentric framework can allow for more serious consideration of environmental interests, something that aligns with the German narrative of recognizing nature's intrinsic value in law and the need for effective environmental protection measures.

Nature as a Legal Subject in the Preparation of Environmental Impact Assessments (Amdal): A Green Constitution Perspective for Social-Ecological Justice

“…In summary, the environmental entities in these constitutional articles are positioned as secondary, not primary. Compared to the constitutions of other countries, Indonesia's current constitution significantly lags behind the ideas of eco-constitutionalism or ecosophy, as seen in the constitutions of Ecuador (Pietari 2016), Bolivia, Switzerland, Egypt, France, and New Zealand (Schimmöller 2020) which explicitly support the environment (water, mountains, seas, rivers, forests, wildlife, etc.) as legal subjects (Suryawan and Aris 2020).…”

Indigenous Rights Amidst Global Turmoil

“…Laura Schimmöller's article follows neatly after the Symposium collection in its attention to the rights of nature as a novel legal formulation. 9 A handful of other recent articles in TEL have critically examined the recent turn towards the establishment of legal rights for non-human natural entities. 10 whether granting rights to nature might prove an effective approach in Germany, a civil law country without a significant Indigenous population.…”

The Legal Form of Climate Change Litigation: An Inquiry into the Transformative Potential and Limits of Private Law

“…Third, because the resounding victories in landmark cases incentivize other actors to follow the same path and to widen the subjects on behalf of which actions are brought. Rights of nature (Schimmöller 2020;Tanasescu 2022;Petel 2024), of Indigenous groups (Tigre 2022), and of future generations (Harris 2022;Bertram 2023;Donger 2022) are three examples in kind. Because of the great influence of comparative law, successful litigation in one jurisdiction is likely to be followed in others.…”