ENVIRONMENTAL jurisprudence is increasingly applying the doctrine of ‘rights of nature’ as an effective way to ensure environmental protection. The doctrine grants legal rights of personhood to natural ecosystems — rivers, forests, mountains, oceans and lakes — including the right to exist and the right to defence in a court of law against human-induced disruption. Promoting the concept are environmental lawyers, activists and civil society organisations worldwide.

According to the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature, an international network of organisations and activists, the doctrine acknowledges that “nature in all its forms has the right to exist, persist, maintain, and regenerate its vital cycles” and that it is a “holistic recognition that all life, all ecosystems on our planet are deeply intertwined”. Further, that people “have the legal authority and responsibility to enforce these rights on behalf of ecosystems. The ecosystem itself can be named as the injured party, with its own legal standing rights, in cases alleging rights violations”.

The massive and rapid degradation of the Earth’s ecosystems is multiplying risks and exacerbating the planetary crisis.

The condition of rivers is a case in point. Human interventions and global warming are threatening riverine ecosystems. In developing countries, riverbeds, floodplains, and wetlands are encroached upon illegally, often for development. Unregulated, illegal, and excessive extraction of sand and gravel have badly affected river deltas. Industrial run-offs, effluents, and untreated municipal wastewater are dumped into natural waterbodies.

The degradation of ecosystems is multiplying risks.

UNEP research shows that one-third of all rivers in Latin America, Africa, and Asia suffer from severe pathogenic pollution causing disease. This pollution ends up in the ocean, causing further adverse impacts.

Conservation strategies have been rendered ineffective due to mismanagement and weak enforcement of rules and regulations. Consequently, pristine rivers are polluted and turned into conveyer belts for refuse and rubbish, endangering freshwater species, and depriving people of sources of aesthetics, recreation, and leisure. The Indus and Ganges are among the most polluted rivers in the world.

To halt and reverse nature’s destruction, an ‘all-hands-on-deck’ approach is required. Governments, the judicial and legal communities, civil society, and the private sector, all have a role.

The movement for the rights of nature has gathered momentum with landmark developments. Some countries have incorporated the principles of the ‘rights of nature’ in their constitutions and statutes. In other places juridical authorities have made important decisions for protecting and restoring ecosystems. New Zealand became the first country to give legal rights to a river in 2017, appointing two guardians — one from the government and one from the local indigenous community — to look after the rights of Whanganui River.

Following suit, three other rivers, Rio Altrato in Colombia and the Ganges and Jamna in India received legal rights against harmful acts and the right to be a party in disputes if these rights are violated.

Bangladesh’s apex court upheld an earlier ruling that declared all rivers in the country as ‘living entities’ with rights as legal persons. The court appointed the National River Conservation Commission ‘in loco parentis’ to protect the rivers from pollution and encroachment.

In 2021, in the ‘D.G. Khan Cement vs Government of Punjab,’ the Supreme Court of Pakistan referred extensively to the ‘rights of nature’, ruled against the installation of a plant affecting groundwater and affirmed that “the environment needs to be protected in its own right”.

Globally, the do­­ctrine of ‘rights of nature’ received an impetus this year with the UN Gen­eral Assembly acc­epting the right to a heathy environment as a human right. These de­­v­e­lopm­ents augur well for the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030), which is designed to connect and empower widespread actions to restore degraded terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems across the globe.

The Indus is the lifeline of Pakistan’s economy. Also called Abasin or father of rivers, it has nurtured and sustained healthy ecosystems benefiting large populations since the times of the Indus Valley Civilisation 4,500 years ago. This once mighty river is in dire straits today, suffering under the burden of pollution, encroachment and struggling aga­i­nst the vagaries of climate change. It needs urgent attention and the protection of its rig­ht to exist and support Pakistan’s people and economy. Pakistan has launched the Living Indus project to protect the river and its ecosystem, which will make a difference if completed in time and effectively implemented.

Worldwide, a combination of individual efforts and collective actions of society will be needed to ensure nature’s rights are protected.

The writer is director of intergovernmental affairs, United Nations Environment Programme.

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2022