Granting Personhood To Nature: A Constitutional And SDG-Oriented Comparative Study Of Legal Innovations In India, Ecuador, And New Zealand
- IJLLR Journal
- Feb 1
- 1 min read
Gayani G, LLM, School of Law, Christ (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru, India
ABSTRACT
The recognition of the rights of nature by granting them the status of personhood and attributing them with legal rights just like humans, stands as an attempt made by the humans to reshape their relationship with the nature. This paper deals with this concept by studying the through the lens of the Indian Constitution under Article 21, the doctrines attributed to it and the evolution of the concept through judicial activism. A special focus is given to the Uttarakhand High Courts judgements in which it granted the rivers Ganga and Yamuna and the ecosystem the status of environmental personhood. A comparative analysis is drawn by studying the initiatives taken by Ecuador in which it recognised the rights of nature through constitution and New Zealand’s recognition of river Whanganui. It also examines how recognition of environmental personhood can help achieve Sustainable Development Goals, Especially, Goals 13, 14 and 15. This paper argues that though recognition of environmental personhood can help provide a transformative framework to govern the ecosystem, it may still risk remaining as just symbolic, unless it is backed by clear legislation, institutional framework, guardianship and political will. For India a way forward is to adopt a hybridised constitutional innovation with a clear statute, providing not just rights in rhetoric but those which are enforceable.
Keywords: Environmental Personhood, Rights of Nature, Sustainable Development Goals, Public Trust Doctrine, Anthropocentrism.
