Rethinking Human Rights and Global Governance: Inherent Rights of Nature, Ecosystems, Climate Migration, and Resource Exploitation

Document Type : Original Article

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224, II Floor, South Asian University Akbar Bhawan, Satya Marg, Chanakayapuri New Delhi

Abstract

Biological life has been in a state of perpetual crisis since its emergence; the crisis is ahistorical phenomenon related to human activity (shaped by industrialisation, urbanisation, andunsustainable consumption patterns). However, the concept of the rights of Nature is centralto the cultures of many Indigenous peoples (for whom Nature is a living relative, not a mereresource). The concept of Nature and its relationship to culture and history constitutes a vitalnexus for appreciating the rights of Nature and its ecosystems (since how a society definesNature determines how it treats rivers, forests, and species). This article addresses various issuesrelated to the reassessment of the inherent rights of Nature (IRoN). It addresses individual issuesinvolved in the IRoN trajectory to do justice to Nature (ranging from philosophical foundationsto procedural enforcement mechanisms). The primary argument is the “inherent rights of IRoN-driven principle of global governance” (meaning that Nature’s inherent rights should guideinternational decision-making, not merely supplement it). It is an unorthodox attempt to cover thediversity of global issues having a cascading impact on the IRoN (i.e., how each crisis amplifiesothers), along with population growth, climate change, war, and natural resource exploitation,as well as legal matters, including constitutional personality (granting legal personhood tonatural entities like rivers or forests), human rights (and their intersection with ecosystemrights), and global governance leadership (the role of states, international organisations, andcivil society in championing ecocentric policies), and new legal structures fostering fundamentalrights of Nature (such as environmental tribunals, ecocentric constitutions, and transnationalaccountability mechanisms).

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