Climate

Can rivers and forests have their own rights? The Rights of Nature movement advocates for recognizing ecosystems as legal entities to more effectively prevent environmental damage. But what does this mean for our legal systems, our understanding of nature, and potential conflicts? A global perspective on visions, debates, and practical approaches.

In the Anthropocene, humans have become the central force shaping nature – with profound consequences. How can the relationship between humans and nature be reimagined? Could granting ecosystems and nature their own rights offer a solution to the challenges of this epoch?

Movements such as Earth Jurisprudence, Wild Law, and Rights of Nature call for a paradigm shift: instead of seeing nature as a resource, ecosystems and their members should be granted their own rights.

Countless scientists and experts have warned that solar geoengineering would give emitters an excuse not to end their fossil-fuel addictions and cause far-reaching unintended consequences.

COP29 was expected to deliver a global goal for climate finance that meets the challenges of the future. It failed to do so. Instead, it launched international carbon markets that create new loopholes for fossil fuel emitters.

Funding climate protection through carbon certificates for soil may seem beneficial at first. However, a greater focus on soil health and supporting farmers in adopting sustainable practices would be far more effective in practice.

For the Azerbaijani regime, hosting the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku represents a chance to obscure its poor climate record and relentless attacks on civil society.

The sixteenth UN Biodiversity Conference (COP16) in Cali, Colombia, faced significant challenges and ran overtime due to disagreements between developing and developed countries. A resumed meeting will be required to address these unfinished issues.

The climate crisis affects marginalized communities disproportionately more than others even though they are the least responsible. Reason enough to give them space in the UNFCCC climate negotiations - but the current tendency seems the exact opposite.

The UN Conference on Biological Diversity (COP16) in Cali, Colombia, ended in early November with important resolutions, but no agreement on the key issue of financing biodiversity conservation.