Earth Law Literature Review
The past few years have garnered an unprecedented amount of academic research on the Rights of Nature and Earth-centered law, but implementation has failed to keep up with the conversation. To address this, Earth Law Center has compiled a body of relevant literature with the goal of advising policymakers interested in furthering Rights of Nature paradigms in and around their communities. If you have a paper that you would like featured on our website, email info@earthlaw.org to submit it.
Author: Guzmán, Juan José
Publication: Deusto Journal of Human Rights. 2019, Vol 0 Issue 4, p. 59-86.
In his article, Guzmán explains how the inclusion of rights of nature protections in the Ecuadorian constitution represents the decolonization of human rights to include indigenous narratives. He grounds his argumentation in historical narratives of colonialism and anthropological theory, demonstrating the need to legislate beyond Western paradigms that excuse human-perpetuated environmental degradation in favor of economic growth. By recognizing nature as an autonomous entity with rights, indigenous peoples may begin to reclaim justice as society makes the necessary and long overdue shift toward non-anthropocentric environmental law.
2. The Rights of Nature and the Future of Public Health
Authors: Chilton, Mariana; Jones, Sonya
Publication: American Journal of Public Health [Am J Public Health]. April 2020, Vol. 110 Issue 4, p. 459-460.
Chilton and Jones pose a critical question in their editorial: should the field of public health continue to respond only to the symptoms of our unsustainable modern condition, or should it instead move to confront the root causes of our declining health? The authors posit that rights of nature—rather than human rights—is a more appropriate framework to address worsening public health because human rights do not include all of what constitutes the “public”; lakes, oceans, rivers, trees, plants, insects, animals, and humans should all be considered public entities because each is key to upholding the health of the others. Finally, Chilton and Jones advocate the condemnation of corporate and state violence as well as other profit-seeking behaviors that contribute to the degradation of ecosystems and human health worldwide.
3. Codifying the Rights of Nature: The Growing Indigenous Movement
Author: Thompson, Geneva E. B.
Publication: Judges' Journal. Spring 2020, Vol. 59 Issue 2, p.12-15.
Since the onset of colonization, indigenous peoples have had stolen their rights to land, natural resources, culture, language, and other essential aspects of their identities and sacred practices, and have long been embroiled in legal battles to reclaim them. Thompson details the ways in which contemporary rights of nature discourse has provided Native nations an avenue for reclamation through legal provisions such as the Montana exceptions, which in some cases allow them to regulate the conduct of members and non-members to maintain self-governance and protect their territory. To conclude, Thompson discusses various examples of rights of nature in practice, such as the Rights of Manoomin treaty and the Klamath River declaration.
4. Earth System Law for the Anthropocene
Author: Kotzé, Louis J.
Publication: Sustainability (Switzerland). Dec 2019, p. 11-23.
In this paper, Kotzé critiques the effectiveness of law as an institution in the Anthropocene epoch. He describes how international environmental law as we have developed it over the past few decades is no longer a satisfactory means of confronting the challenges faced by our ever-changing and increasingly interdependent planetary systems. Ultimately, Kotzé argues that we should reimagine regulation in the time of climate change through the development of a more interdisciplinary body of Earth System law, which he believes is a necessary framework to address our current socio-ecological crisis.
Author: Sheber, Kaitlin
Publication: Hastings Environmental Law Journal. Winter 2020, Vol. 26 Issue 1, p. 147-168.
Sheber begins her paper by examining rights of nature case studies in New Zealand, India, and Ecuador, comparing their accomplishments and the ways in which their respective successes came to be. She then discusses the effectiveness of various coalition-building strategies to garner support for rights of nature movements internationally, including information sharing and organizing on various levels. Finally, Sheber explores two major benefits of passing rights of nature laws: better and more frequent protection of nature based in non-anthropocentric logics and increased governmental and societal recognition of indigenous perspectives.
6. Will the River Ever Get a Chance to Speak: Standing up for the Legal Rights of Nature
Author: McDonough, Caroline
Publication: Villanova Environmental Law Journal. Jan 2019, Vol. 31 Issue 1, p. 143-164.
McDonough argues in her paper that current litigation frameworks are inherently anthropocentric and therefore do not allow for full scale environmental protection. She details the legal history of rights of nature in the US, commenting on efforts by the State of Colorado to grant the Colorado River personhood and Grant Township, Pennsylvania’s introduction of their Community Bill of Rights. McDonough also discusses the implications of voters’ decision in Toledo, Ohio to grant rights to Lake Erie rights, a movement which was legally challenged by stakeholders including farmers who argued that their operations would potentially be compromised by the law. This example and others from countries outside of the United States illustrate some of the practical difficulties that can arise when rights of nature protections come into conflict with economic activity.
7. Living in Harmony with Nature? A Critical Appraisal of the Rights of Mother Earth in Bolivia
Authors: Kotzé, Louis; Calzadilla, Paola
Publication: Transnational Environmental Law. Nov 2018, Vol. 7, Issue 3, p. 397-424.
In this paper, Kotzé and Calzadilla detail the history of rights of nature laws in Bolivia, examining the country’s Constitution, the Law of the Rights of Mother Earth, and the Framework Law of Mother Earth and Integral Development for Living Well. While the Bolivian constitution does not explicitly grant rights to nature, it does create frameworks for such recognition in the future by incorporating the right of citizens to a healthy, protected, and balanced natural environment, and subsequent laws have expanded these protections to grant Mother Earth equal status. However, efforts to effect cultural change should not end with legal reform. As societies around the world confront the destructive nature of their anthropocentrism, Kotzé and Calzadilla stress the importance of learning from indigenous worldviews to guide the path forward.
Authors: Kotzé, L.J.; French, D.
Publication: Global Journal of Comparative Law. 2018, Vol. 7 Issue 1, p. 5-36.
Kotzé and French argue in their article that major environmental treaties, legislation, and sustainable development goals largely ignore the value of nature for its own sake because the institutions that create and pass them thrive on unchecked growth. They call upon Rockström’s planetary boundaries framework as a tool which they contend should be used to guide individuals and larger institutions to better respect ecological limits. Finally, Kotzé and French conclude that the UN World Charter for Nature should be considered as a potential instrument to guide the world’s nations to collectively recenter their focus on environmental protection around authentic ecocentrism.
9. Placing the Animal in the Dialogue Between Law and Ecology
Author: Murray, Jamie
Publication: Liverpool Law Review. July 2018, Vol. 39 Issue 1/2, p. 9-27.
In this paper, Murray argues that law as it has historically been conceived is not an adequate tool for responding to complex ecological concerns. Murray discusses four possible mergers of ecology with law: Ecosystemic Law, Earth Jurisprudence, Resilience Theory, and other approaches that embrace philosophical complexity theory. Moving beyond current environmental law paradigms, Murray suggests that the animal as an “intensive body of affect in a complex social-ecological assemblage” has a unique capacity to position itself between ecology and law so as to prompt a reimagining of both concepts. Because of this, Murray believes that animal lawyers have the ability to lead the way in exploring better ways to create legal precedent for the protections of the relationships between humans and the natural world.
10. Introducing the Cosmic Person: An Ecocentric Legal Subject
Author: Norman, Jana
Publication: Alternative Law Journal. June 2018, Vol. 43 Issue 2, p.126-130.
While efforts are being made to grant legal rights to non-humans, Norman believes that the very notion of the human legal subject is outdated. She criticizes the concept of the “rational autonomous individual,'' introducing the idea of the Cosmic Person as an entity which normalizes ecocentrism, embodying interdependency, connectedness, and experience as facets of its life and character. Norman proposes universe, planet, and person as the three nodes of generativity within which all humans coexist, suggesting that the human-Earth relationship can only be fulfilled when its complexity is recognized and embraced—rather than avoided—by the law.
11. Legal Personality and Economic Livelihood of the Whanganui River: A Call for Community Entrepreneurs
Authors: Argyrou, Aikaterini; Hummels, Harry
Publication: Water International. 2019, Vol. 44 Issue 7, p. 752-768.
Argyrou and Hummels analyse the language of New Zealand’s Te Awa Tupua Act, which assigns the Whanganui River legal rights with Māori guardianship to preserve the cultural and spiritual relationship of the land and the people. Because the Whanganui River is central to the identity of the Māori people, there are clear grounds upon which to justify its designation of legal personhood; without the interdependence of the two, this would be significantly more difficult to accomplish. Argyrou and Hummels argue beyond ecocentric and anthropocentric conceptions of humans’ relationship to nature, instead proposing a third alternative wherein nature and humanity are connected as a single entity in an “intertwined economy.” This new conception necessitates the consideration of the health and needs of both the people and the river, allowing putting forth a new model of sustainable development which includes legal rights.
12. Environmental Personhood and Standing for Nature: Examining the Colorado River Case
Author: Miller, Matthew
Publication: University of New Hampshire Law Review. Mar 2019, Vol. 17 Issue 2, p. 355-377.
Miller argues that environmental personhood can eventually be analogized to corporate personhood in that both entities are extensions of individuals (and their goals) and should be treated as such in courts. Being that a natural ecosystem also includes human beings, the system should be able to exercise the rights of its component parts. In order to gain access to federal courts, a natural entity would have to establish personhood to satisfy the narrowly drawn standing requirement under Article III of the Constitution. Examining why the Colorado River case did not succeed, Miller asserts that he believes the plaintiffs focused too much on the Rights of Nature doctrine, failed to allege particularized injury to the Colorado River Ecosystem, and did not do enough research to satisfy the standing challenge. He concludes by advocating a shift in attitude within the United States toward rights of nature models found throughout the international community.
Author: McDermond, Malcolm
Publication: Penn State Dickinson Law Review. 2019, Vol. 123 Issue 3, p. 785-814.
Just one month after the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline in the United States, New Zealand passed legislation granting personhood to the Whanganui River, settling over a century of negotiations between the Maori people and New Zealand government. McDermond discusses the history of attempting to attain standing for natural resources, and Justice Douglas’ proposal of creating standing for environmental objects with the reasoning that ships or corporations are inanimate objects with standing that could be analogous to rivers, trees, or land. McDermond also focuses on the sacred relationship between Native Americans and land, specifically that they have always recognized that land has intrinsic value. When it comes to legally constructed personhood, standing is given to human persons and artificial persons like corporations. The American legal system has struggled with protecting land rights, and can look to New Zealand, which protects the Whanganui River as an “indivisible and living whole” with all the “rights, powers, duties, and liabilities of a legal person,” as a guide. Finally, McDermond analyzes the feasibility of enacting similar legislation in the United States, concluding that it is possible but requires great legislative specificity to avoid any ambiguity faced by courts in other countries with similar goals.
14. The Campaign to Make Ecocide an International Crime: Quixotic Quest or Moral Imperative?
Author: Greene, Anastacia
Publication: Fordham Environmental Law Review. 2019, Vol. 30 Issue 3, p. 1-48.
Anastacia analyzes the movement to include “ecocide” as a fifth crime against peace, which could then be heard by the International Criminal Court. The term “ecocide” was first used in the 1970s in reference to American chemical warfare in the Vietnam War and now more broadly refers to substantial destruction or unreasonable degradation of a particular ecosystem or the environment in general. Greene examines how recognizing environmental damage as a crime can fit into international law, but deciding whether there should be a criminal intent requirement poses a major roadblock. In the 1980s, the International Law Commission considered whether environmental damage should fit into the code, analogizing it to genocide in the eyes of the law. Greene details how individual countries have made ecocide a crime, including the theories driving the imposition of a duty of care to the environment, ecocide and morality, and deficiencies in current international law seeking to protect the environment. Greene concludes that establishing ecocide as a punishable crime requires defining the term, implementing an intent requirement, and determining causation.
15. Fighting on Behalf of the Salish Sea
Author: Chapman, Cloie
Publication: American Indian Law Journal. 2019, Vol. 8 Issue 1, p. 127-148.
This article discusses the Trans Mountain pipeline in Canada and the Salish Sea, contextualizing them within the controversy surrounding fossil fuel pipelines as both environmentally harmful and potentially economically beneficial. Previously, lawsuits initiated by indigeneous tribes to combat pipeline projects attempted to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for contributions to climate change and environmental degradation. One approach to fight the construction of the Trans Mountain pipeline is to try and establish rights for and advocate on behalf of the Salish Sea, a significant ecosystem comprising mammals, fish, birds, and invertebrates that inhabit the waters, as well as the several million people that live in the sea’s vicinity. Chapman discusses the emerging rights of nature movement, shifting the concept of nature from property to a legal entity with its own right to exist and flourish. The ability to initiate litigation on behalf of the Salish Sea would be more effective and provoke more immediate action than long-term policy work that forces policymakers to choose between protecting the environment and advancing the economy.
16. Environmentalism Isn’t New: Lessons from Indigenous Law
Author: Kowalski, Joseph
Publication: Buffalo Environmental Law Journal. Aug 2019, Vol. 26 Issue 1, p. 15-53.
Kowalski first discusses how indigenous approaches to law and nature differ from more modern “Western” approaches that view nature as property. For example, Australian indigenous groups would determine how certain ecosystems operate, then regulate human activities based on what would complement those processes, rather than implementing rules or statutes. Additionally, indigenous groups historically did not separate humanity from nature as most modern societies do, leading to the exploitation of natural resources. John Locke’s theories on property also led to the colonization of indigenous lands, where territory was seized from indigenous groups because it was believed they were not utilizing the land to its fullest economic capacity. Kowalski further discusses the United Nations Declarations on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the relationship between protecting indigenous rights and the management of land and resources. Currently, a majority of activism for indigenous rights and environmental protection comes from grassroots efforts against corporate or governmental intervention. Kowalski concludes that a critical aspect of environmental protection is the installation of indigenous concepts of environmentalism into law by granting rights and personhood to natural entities, using the Ecuadorian constitution and the personhood of New Zealand’s Whanganui River as models.
Author: Rowe, Tia
Publication: Michigan State International Law Review. 2019, Vol. 27 Issue 3, p. 594-627.
Rowe examines whether the Wisconsin Menominee Tribe could establish personhood for the Menominee River using New Zealand’s Whanganui River as a model. The agreement establishing legal personhood for the Whanganui River intends to reflect that indigenous peoples view the river as a living entity rather than property capable of being owned, enabling the river to have legal standing in its own right. The Menominee River is currently under threat from the construction of the Back Forty Mine, an open-pit-sulfide mine which risks contamination of watersheds and drinking water in the area. Because the Menominee signed multiple treaties with the U.S. government terminating their status as a federal tribe, it is increasingly difficult for them to protest multiple documents, ultimately meaning that the U.S. government has significantly more power than the tribe as a group. Rowe concludes that even if the Menominee received significant grassroots social and political support to establish rights for their river, similar to what occurred in New Zealand, protecting the river from the construction of the mine would be an arduous legal battle. The Menominee’s best chance at fighting the mine would be establishing guardianship rights to preserve the river, which would be an acknowledgement of past harms committed by treaty agreements between the tribe and the U.S. government.
18. The Standing Dead: An Analysis of Nonhuman Personhood in U.S. Jurisprudence
Author: Voight, Morgan
Publication: Mitchell Hamline Law Review. 2019, Vol. 46 Issue 1, p. 1-27.
Voight analyzes the question of whether the unalienable rights granted to people in the United States should be granted to nonhuman entities, ultimately concluding that allocation of an entity’s rights is determined by that entity’s value to humanity. Key to issues of environmental law is the concept of standing, which is a legal prerequisite to a party’s right to make a legal claim, bring a legal action, and seek recourse for rights violations. Previously, environmental groups have failed to establish a “direct stake in the outcome” of corporate development threatening natural resources, and no other U.S. jurisprudence has granted legal rights to aspects of the environment. Nature cannot claim legal rights without the intervention of a human whose rights have been invaded, but there is promise in establishing guardianship for nature. Additionally, it is difficult to discern rights for natural entities because they are frequently intertwined, for example, how do you separate a stream from its source, and guardianship for two separate but connected natural objects could lead to inconsistent judgments.
19. The Right to Flourish, Regenerate, and Evolve: Towards Juridical Personhood for an Ecosystem
Author: Bilof, Nicholas
Publication: Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal. May 2018, Vol. 10 Issue 1, p. 111-142.
Bilof discusses how the injury-in-fact standard has become a hurdle in establishing standing for environmental litigation attempting to bring legal action to protect the environment, specifically regarding human practices polluting waterways. Bilof analyzes two lawsuits aiming at protecting the Suwannee and Colorado Rivers. The Sierra Club as a plaintiff may not have standing alone and citizens in environmental litigation must allege injury-in-fact by proving they are persons “‘for whom the aesthetic and recreational values of the area will be lessened’ by the challenged activity.” In the Colorado River lawsuit, referring to the river as an ecosystem proved to be more legally feasible and expansive, and the plaintiffs posed as guardians. Acting as guardians or “next friends” proposes a less restrictive standing standard because they no longer have to prove a direct human harm, which is where environmental litigation has failed in the past. Bilof concludes that it is unfortunate ecosystem personhood has yet to be tried in an American court, but that attaining personhood for environmental systems (rather than individual entities) opens the door for the possibility of greater environmental protections, and widens the scope of environmental harm injuries courts could contemplate.
Author: Hansen, Olivia
Publication: University of Miami Inter-American Law Review. 2018, Vol. 49 Issue 1, p. 90-128.
Increasing demand for avocados to export to the U.S. has led to an illegal practice in Mexico where avocado trees are planted in fir forests, then fir trees are cut down to allow the avocado trees to thrive. This practice violates Mexican legislation that translates to the General Act for Sustainable Forestry Development, aimed at protecting vulnerable forest ecosystems. Hansen discusses Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES), a method of conservation through incentives which allows for benefits to be derived from the environment in exchange for supporting services, one example being soil formation. In Mexico, the profitability of farming avocados outweighs the profitability of participating in PES programs, which has led to disregard for the government’s efforts to encourage sustainable farming practices. Though Mexico’s PES is written into national law, it fails to take into account the value of avocados as a cash crop export, and Hansen concludes that more regulations need to be put into place by the government to implement and enforce PES programs to protect forests.
Author: Derning, Rachel; Andreas, Dwayne
Publication: Pace Environmental Law Review. Sept 2019, Vol. 36 Issue 2, p. 202-228.
Derning and Andreas examine constitutional protections for natural resources in New York and Florida. Between the 1960s and 1990s, Florida enacted state conservation land purchase programs in recognition of the state’s unique ecosystems that became under threat from growing populations. Florida undergoes constitutional reform every 20 years to make amendments to the state constitution, which added additional management provisions for the “Florida Forever” land conservation efforts. Since 2000, some Florida public officials have attempted to deliberately violate constitutional protections for conserved land, but any attempts have luckily been unsuccessful. New York has a comparable constitutional clause called the “Forever Wild” clause, which protects vast tracts of forest land including the Adirondack and Catskills Forest Preserves. Any attempts to undermine this clause, implemented in 1895, has been rejected by New York voters, maintaining the protection of these lands. Both of these constitutional protections have proved beneficial to maintaining environmental protections, but lack in establishing accountability for public officials violating provisions. Using these two constitutional provisions as models, Derning and Andreas demonstrate U.S. voters are in support of natural resource protections, and encourage other states to propose similar amendments to their own state constitutions.
Author: Barentine, John C.
Publication: International Journal of Sustainable Lighting. 2020, Vol. 22 Issue 2, p. 28-36.
In this article, Barentine argues that conventional Western modes of regulation fail to meaningfully mitigate light pollution. Artificial light at night (ALAN), which he describes as a “reverse ‘tragedy of the commons,’” has adverse effects on systems from global economics to biological processes. Barentine considers both legal and legislative avenues as possible pathways to pursue the regulation of light pollution, but concludes that neither one is a reliable option given the magnitude of the issue and the pervasiveness of lackluster policies meant to tackle it. As an alternative, Barentine advocates a Rights of Nature approach to managing light pollution that recognizes the inherent natural value of dark nights for ecosystems and the public good. Barentine does recognize that Rights of Nature paradigms are novel, and their success in mitigating ALAN would largely be measured by the extent to which they raised public awareness about the dangers of light pollution.
23. Earth System Law: The Juridical Dimensions of Earth System Governance
Author: Kotzé, Louis J.; Kim, Rakhyun E.
Publication: Earth System Governance Journal. 2019, Vol. 1, p. 1-12.
While earth system governance has become a well-researched topic, its corresponding link to law has received relatively little scholarly attention. In this article, Kotzé and Kim advocate earth system law as a holistic response to the unique regulatory challenges posed by the Anthropocene epoch. The authors outline a variety of ways in which the law as it is currently conceived is not equipped to address the rapidly changing social and ecological conditions of the modern era, arguing instead for deep structural reforms and global governance beyond state-centric systems. Drawing a distinction between international law and planetary law, Kotzé and Kim propose a framework for earth law that departs from traditional environmental regulation by elevating nature beyond its status as a utilitarian object. Unlike ecological law, earth law embraces the planet as a human-dominated, socio-ecological system that looks toward the future in developing a vision to sustain a diversity of life for generations to come. As climate change progresses, Kotzé and Kim remind us that it is increasingly urgent for the global community to champion legal paradigms that take a proactive approach to prevent us from crossing key planetary boundaries.
24. The Legal Man in the Moon: Exploring Environmental Personhood for Celestial Bodies
Author: Altabef, William B.
Publication: Chicago Journal of International Law. 2021, Vol. 21 Issue 2, p. 476-512.
In this article, William B. Altabef explores the possibility of introducing environmental personhood into outer space through the recognition of celestial bodies as rights-bearing entities. As the number of economic actors entering space grows, celestial bodies face threats from overcrowding, resource exploitation, contamination, and climate change. Beyond endangering the integrity of planetary surfaces, poorly regulated activity may jeopardize our opportunity to identify life beyond Earth. Altabef argues that despite increasing interest in space, our international treaties are outdated and insufficient as regulatory tools. Through an advisory opinion or a contentious case, the International Court of Justice could implement environmental personhood through judicial decisions to protect the Moon and our neighboring planets for “the common interest of all mankind,” offering a new way to explore humanity’s relationship with nature beyond Earth.
25. Living Rivers, Cosmopolitan Activism, and Environmental Justice in the Bengal Delta
Author: Adel, Daniel
Publication: HSU Theses and Projects, 429.
In his Master’s thesis, Daniel Adel draws upon research from fields within environmental justice, southern environmentalism, ecological nationalism, and environmental governance in order to examine social movements and civil society activism seeking the protection of the rivers of Bangladesh. Through interviews with river activists and relevant organizations along with field research data analysis, Adel addresses the following question: how are civil society organizations analyzing and responding to the water diversions and degradation of Bangladesh’s transboundary rivers? Adel finds that the primary response involves the advocacy of a common water-sharing framework that respects ecological and watershed boundaries in South Asia and calls for the restoration of a river’s natural course through the abolishment of existing dams and other diversionary structures. This integrated approach to water resource management endeavors to advance water diplomacy and bioregional notions of river governance with the goal of actualizing true “watershed democracy” throughout South Asia as a whole.
26. Stop Burying the Lede: The Essential Role of Indigenous Law(s) in Creating Rights of Nature
Authors: O’Donnell, Erin; Poelina, Anne; Pelizzon, Alessandro; Clark, Cristy
Publication: Transnational Environmental Law. 2020, Vol. 9 Issue 3, p. 403-427.
In this article, O'Donnell, Poelina, Pelizzon, and Clark acknowledge and explore the essential role of Indigenous ideologies in shaping the Rights of Nature. While recognition of Rights of Nature paradigms has increased in recent years, many trailblazing cases have been hindered by limited enforcement. The authors argue that analyzing Indigenous influences upon ecological jurisprudence will enhance the implementation of Rights of Nature in a global context. They begin by describing the historical origins of ecocentric law, noting the development of its two distinct forms: ‘existence rights’ and ‘legal personality’. To analyze the efficacy of current policy responses, the authors compare five recent cases of rivers and lakes in different countries that have received legal rights, including the Whanganui River in New Zealand and Lake Erie in the United States. They observe that cases with higher Indigenous engagement with colonial legal institutions result in more strategic, sustainable transformations that successfully reconcile the divide between Nature and culture. Finally, the authors discuss the case of the Mardoowarra/Martuwara/Fitzroy River in Australia, where Traditional Owners who act as legal guardians for the River play an active role in protecting the River’s right to life.
27. Upholding Nature’s Rights in Ecuador: Identifying Problems and Providing Solutions
Author: Addison Luck
Publication: Yale University Library
In his thesis paper, Addison Luck reviews the history of rights of nature law in Ecuador in order to analyze local challenges and propose possible solutions to its enforcement. He begins by outlining the central tenets of the rights of nature movement, briefly tracing its progress in countries including the U.S., Ecuador, New Zealand, and others that grant legal rights to ecosystems, animals, and natural bodies. Utilizing information gathered from interviews and relevant literature, Luck gains insight into several problem areas that have emerged from the 31 rights of nature court cases that were adjudicated in Ecuador from 2008 to the present. First, Luck identifies various constitutional discrepancies that dictate environmental protections while sanctioning its destruction. He advocates building stronger jurisprudential practices around rights of nature issues as well as requiring a more thorough consideration of nature’s interests in the approval process for potential future development projects. Luck also holds that Ecuador would benefit from more specific definitions of which aspects of nature can be represented in court, and contends that more effort to educate civil society stakeholders, lawyers, and judges on rights of nature issues would be a constructive next step. Finally, Luck criticizes the current Ecuadorian guardianship model whereby every citizen is able to speak in court on behalf of nature. To remedy the inaction that results from this “problem of the masses,” he proposes the creation of a state-sponsored guardianship agency with small funding incentives provided by governmental bodies or large environmental organizations. Despite the concerns he raises, however, Luck still supports the continued adoption and enforcement of rights of nature laws in Ecuador and across the globe.