Private member’s bill backed by Chris Packham and Natalie Bennett would impose a duty of care on government and business
A radical proposal to change the legal status of nature will be launched today in the House of Lords, with the unveiling of the UK nature’s rights bill initiative.
The private member’s bill aims to legally enshrine the idea that there can be no lasting economic progress or social justice without respect for the natural world, and to change the legal status of nature from objects, property and resources to a legal subject with inherent rights.
If it were to go into law, it would, explain the group behind the bill, establish a legal duty of care towards nature and create a governance structure of national and bioregional councils to implement, monitor and enforce the bill’s provisions, aimed at the promotion of sustainable and regenerative practices across all sectors of the economy and society. The initiative is supported by Chris Packham, Dale Vince and other prominent environmentalists and will be submitted by the former leader of the Green party, Baroness Natalie Bennett.
“We are looking for a seismic shift in law and policy making,” said Mumta Ito, the founder of Nature’s Rights, which has led the bill’s drafting process. “We need to encode a new consciousness in law, with laws that protect nature as the very basis of life.”
