Alex Putzer, a PhD fellow at the Sant´Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa, explains that the right of nature makes easier the relationship between a natural ecosystem and human law. However, he recognises that it is not easy as no unique legal definition exists. Moreover, each ecosystem has its features; a river is different from a rainforest or a coral reef.
“I don´t think that applying the right of nature will solve all problems, but it will add value to wildlife protection.
“Ecosystems won´t be a protected object, anymore, but a subject itself with protection.”
Now is time for Europe to reconnect with nature. Susana Borrás, PhD in environmental law, says that it´s time to shift our legal framework to an eccentric perspective; this is just the first step.
The Spanish congress gives a final green light to this initiative. The next step will be in the Senate, although it´s likely to be just a bureaucratic step.
Now that it is officially approved, it is the clearest example of the rights of nature in Europe; other societies with stronger links with nature already did it, though. For example, with this figure, Colombia stopped the deforestation of the Colombian Amazon, and the US recognised the rights to the River Colorado to “exist, flourish, regenerate, be restored, and naturally evolve”.