Reinvigorating Humanity's Relationship To Earth and Time - Surya Deva is the Special Rapporteur For This Moment

I’m joined on the show today by Surya Deva. He’s a Professor at the Macquarie Law School, where he’s also the Director of the Environmental Law Research Centre and Business & Human Rights Justice Lab. Surya is also part way through his first term period as the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Development. He’s served as a member of the UN’s Working Group on Business and Human Rights, he’s published extensively and advised UN agencies, governments, corporations, trade union and civil society organisations.I’ve been hoping to get Surya on for most of the year after coming across his work on the rights of children and future generations. He has made an eloquent case for the way decisions today could and probably should be accounting for the future. This resonated strongly as someone who works in climate adaptation on a day to day basis and the way choices can be expanded or limited by the constraints of time in decision making. If we limit thinking to only this quarter or this year to work on a topic as broad and complex as climate adaptation, then the types of activities that are deliverable are likely narrow and inadequate structurally. By extending the time by which action could be taken - ten years, fifty years, five hundred years, that creates new frames and perspectives, making what previously seemed implausible plausible and helps focus action in that next quarter or year in a bigger and more meaningful context. Surya’s work helped to crystallise some of my thinking, and the way he is able to describe and make practical decision making in multi-faceted, interconnected contexts has been valuable.We chat about a lot here, but sitting at the heart of our conversation is Surya’s reimagined vision for the role of the right to development, and his perspectives on a planet-centred, relationship-driven world where we see ourselves as a part of something, not seperate to it. We chat about his critiques of voluntary human rights due diligence in corporate settings, the role of remediation and transformation as strategic pillars of change and his views on mindsets, leadership and what we need next to make some big shifts in our society.I have enormous regard for Surya, his work and the way he approaches it. I always learn so much spending time with him, and I hope that’s what you get today.Support the Finding Nature Go HalfCut 2025 campaign!Events are live and more are coming - follow on Humanitix.Follow on LinkedIn, Substack and Instagram. Today's show is delivered with Altiorem. Use code FindingNature25 to get 25% off an annual subscription.Send me a messageThanks for listening. Follow Finding Nature on Instagram