Katarina Hovden: On the Rights of Nature

Challenging the idea of nature as a voiceless entity, PhD Fellow at University of Copenhagen Katarina Hovden proposes recognising the rights of Nature in law. Despite the fact that life has existed long before human legal systems, law has perpetuated the idea of nature primarily as a resource to serve human needs and interests. Through a critique of the dominant legal system and by recognising the rights of Nature, Katarina urges us to reframe our role as humans in the web of life. This requires us not only to acknowledge that our actions have consequences in ecological, social, and planetary systems, but also to consider what it would take to live in responsible and caring relationships with the rest of Nature.