In some countries of the Global South, rivers, forests and lakes can also sue in court. The Hamburg law professor Ralf Michaels explains what this means for the protection of nature – and whether the model is also conceivable in Germany.
Located on Spain’s Mediterranean coast, the Mar Menor Lagoon has recently acquired legal personality. In some South American countries, the so-called law of nature is even enshrined in the constitution. What does that mean?
For a long time we saw the environment primarily as a resource. And basically, the existing conservation laws still do that. They are based on an anthropocentric world view, which is about preserving the environment for people. The idea of the rights of nature is based on the idea that this absolute separation between man and nature, which is often very pronounced in western societies, is not adequate.