Nature´s rights Towards an EU Charter of the Fundamental Rights of Nature STUDY European Economic and Social Committee Towards an EU Charter of the Fundamental Rights of Nature Study The information and views set out in this study are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee. The European Economic and Social Committee does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this study. Neither the European Economic and Social Committee nor any person acting on the European Economic and Social Committee’s behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained therein. General information STUDY FOR The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) REQUESTING SERVICE Sustainable Development Observatory STUDY MANAGING SERVICE Foresight, Studies and Policy Assessment Unit DATE 13 December 2019 MAIN CONTRACTOR University of Salento-CEDEUAM (I) University of Siena (I) Nature's Rights (UK) AUTHORS Michele Carducci, Silvia Bagni, Vincenzo Lorubbio, Elisabetta Musarò (UniSalento-CEDEUAM) Massimiliano Montini, Alessandra Barreca, Costanza Di Francesco Maesa (UniSiena) Mumta Ito, Lindsey Spinks, Paul Powlesland (Nature's Rights) CONTACTS [email protected]; silvia.bagni.unibo.it [email protected] [email protected] IDENTIFIERS ISBN doi STUDY print QE-03-20-586-EN-C 978-92-830-4972-2 10.2864/499675 PDF QE-03-20-586-EN-N 978-92-830-4971-5 10.2864/25113 Towards an EU Charter of the Fundamental Rights of Nature Table of Contents 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 9 2. Rights of Nature and failure of Environmental Law ............................................................... 14 2.1 From legal definitions to legal practices ............................................................................... 14 2.1.1 The Rights of Nature beyond the State .................................................................................. 17 2.2 The failure to address the progressive deterioration of the environmental quality ............... 19 2.2.1 The regulatory and the deregulatory trends ............................................................................ 21 2.2.2 The question of the effectiveness of EU Environmental Law ............................................... 23 2.3 Systemic Problems with Environmental Law ....................................................................... 24 3. How the Rights of Nature may help to overcome the failures of Environmental Law ......... 28 3.1 Preamble ................................................................................................................................ 28 3.2 Lack of a proper mechanism of ecosystem protection and impact in the society ................. 31 3.3 Examples of barriers from the distinct civil society groups .................................................. 35 3.4 Fragmentation of parameters and discretionary powers ........................................................ 37 3.5 Overview of the main critical issues ..................................................................................... 38 3.6 Germany: "in dubio pro"? ..................................................................................................... 39 3.7 Italy: law making in regression?............................................................................................ 40 3.8 France: "one small step" for the environment? ..................................................................... 43 3.9 EU: what to do together for the future? ................................................................................. 46 3.10 The EU, Rights of Nature and SDG 16 ................................................................................. 48 4. Rights of Nature and strategic milestones for genuine ecosystem protection ........................ 50 4.1 Promoting an ecologically-based approach to law ................................................................ 50 4.2 Paving the way to a different approach to law ...................................................................... 51 4.3 The added value of Rights of Nature in addressing ecosystem protection ............................ 52 4.4 Milestones for Ecosystem Protection .................................................................................... 54 5. Making a case for a Charter of Rights of Nature: legal and moral use of the instrument ... 56 5.1 The "eco-legal" breaking points ............................................................................................ 56 5.2 The opportunity to change ..................................................................................................... 60 5.3 Towards a whole systems approach ...................................................................................... 63 5.4 Bringing all stakeholders on board: the 3 Horizons .............................................................. 66 5.5 What practical changes does a EU Charter of Fundamental Rights of Nature bring? .......... 69 5.6 The five pillars of the "Rights of Nature".............................................................................. 70 5.6.1 Non-regression .......................................................................................................................... 72 5.6.2 Resilience .................................................................................................................................. 74 5.6.3 "In dubio pro natura et clima" ................................................................................................. 78 5.6.4 "Sustainable" democratic methods .......................................................................................... 81 5.6.5 The rule of five responsibilities towards Nature, in reversing the burden of proof ............. 84 6. Advantages and obstacles of a Charter of the Rights of Nature in EU .................................. 88 6.1 Rights of Nature as a foundation of sustainability ................................................................ 88 6.2 Rights of Nature in a multilevel system ................................................................................ 90 6.3 An initial examination of barriers for civil society................................................................ 93 6.4 Arguments for and against a Charter of Fundamental Rights of Nature ............................. 100 6.4.1 A unifying whole-systems framework to tackle the "eco-legal" breaking points .............. 101 6.4.2 Improving access to environmental justice in the EU .......................................................... 104 6.4.3 Addressing some of the most critical issues of our time ...................................................... 106 6.4.4 Taking EU to an international leading role ........................................................................... 109 6.5 EU Charter of Rights of Nature and EU Charter of Fundamental Rights? ......................... 111 7. Conclusions: towards an "EU Charter of Fundamental Rights of Nature" ........................ 116 7.1 Binding/non binding nature of the Charter .......................................................................... 116 7.2 The necessary contents of the Charter ................................................................................. 118 7.2.1 The international context ........................................................................................................ 123 7.2.2 Structure .................................................................................................................................. 123 7.2.3 General contents ..................................................................................................................... 124 7.2.4 Substantive rights ................................................................................................................... 125 7.2.5 Obligations of States and individuals towards Nature ......................................................... 126 7.3 Pathway to achieve the Charter ........................................................................................... 128 7.4 Rights of Nature in the REFIT framework .......................................................................... 128 8. Complete bibliographical references (cited and for future research)................................... 132 1. Debate on the Rights of Nature ....................................................................................................... 132 2. Critique on the Rights of Nature ..................................................................................................... 135 3. Debate on the Rights of Nature in the EU context............................................................................. 135 4. Bibliography on Environmental Law and its failure .......................................................................... 136 5. Bibliography on case studies .......................................................................................................... 138 6. Other references ............................................................................................................................ 139 7. Sources on ecosystem, climate and fossil emergencies ...................................................................... 141 8. Bibliography on ecosystem services