ABSTRACT
Motivated by recent calls for a new legal framework capable not only of protecting human interests but also the integrity of ecosystems and biotic communities, in this chapter I look at the idea of the rights of nature and adopt a critical—yet friendly—stance towards this strategy. I do so on two independent but mutually reinforcing grounds. First, I raise doubts regarding the idea that nature, or more specifically, some of its constituent parts, can be adequately ascribed with rights. And second, I question the idea that the recognition of rights of nature is beneficial to all the rights-holders within nature. Despite this critical perspective, I embrace the fundamental motivation for ascribing rights to nature but contend that we should search for a different rights-based framework to protect the natural world and its members.
