Restructuring natural interaction through legal interventions
In the upcoming October 2025 issue of Policy Matters, an article will delve into the potential of strategic legal action to reshape our understanding and valuation of nature.
Humans have diverse values for nature, shaping our relationships with species, places, and natural systems. These values, often intangible, are crucial to our sense of self and wellbeing. However, integrating these diverse values into mainstream policy processes remains challenging due to the dominance of instrumentalist values and economic valuation.
The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) encourages policy makers to engage with and recognize these plural values for nature. The article argues that strategic legal action is needed to help "reimagine relationships" with nature, challenging the status quo regarding nature's value and relationships.
Various organizations and individuals, including the United Nations, European Commission officials, and foundations like the Schader Stiftung, have taken strategic legal actions to strengthen the recognition and value of diverse natural values in political and decision-making processes, often emphasizing human rights, environmental protection, and sustainable development frameworks.
The article provides selected examples of legal actions to illustrate their potential impact. For instance, cases around the world are upholding relational values to nature in various ways, such as recognizing the rights of indigenous communities to their traditional lands or protecting unique ecosystems from development.
Strategic legal action could help accelerate and strengthen the mainstreaming of diverse values of nature, challenging the status-quo. By doing so, it could potentially shift society's valuation of nature itself, moving us towards a more sustainable future.
Better understanding of these values can aid in pursuing more sustainable trajectories. The article explains why and how strategic legal action is possible to help mainstream diverse values of nature, and it explores how these actions can impact the valuation and relationships with nature.
Examples of legal actions from around the world are provided to illustrate their potential to help shape not only individually case outcomes, but also help to gradually reshape how we recognize the diverse values people hold for nature. The article concludes that strategic legal action holds great potential in accelerating the recognition of nature's diverse values, thereby helping to "reimagine relationships" between people and the planet.
