Rights of Nature and Degrowth - two facets of the same ‘whole’
Rights of Nature is a paradigm shift from seeing and treating Nature as a resource and an object in law that is there (mainly) for human use and without a voice of her own in the human controlled legal system towards recognising and respecting Nature’s right to exist, live, thrive and evolve naturally – in law as a legal subject and with her own in and of itself right to protection and existence.
One of the current worst offenders when it comes to the murder of living entities is the rampant extractivism which itself is a result of the incessant ‘need’ for material growth.
Degrowth as a paradigm is the antithesis of quantitative growth for the sake of profit and materialism and is therefore the prerequisite for the cessation of human caused destruction of life and the planet Earth herself.
Degrowth is, therefore, absolutely essential if we are to halt Nature and living communities murder and destruction, to change the direction in which the human societies g(r)o(w) and ensure that the rights of Nature to just simply exist on a healthy home - are respected.
The Transition Town movement, itself built on the holistic ecological design of Permaculture is a practical, lived on the ground expression of degrowth which is based on the simple ethics of living in harmony and respecting Nature’s right to life.