Granting Nature Legal Rights

A Shift Towards an Ecocentric Conception of Nature in Germany?

Abstract

This interdisciplinary research paper is centred around the concept of environmental personhood as a means of tackling the impending climate crisis. More specifically, it focuses on how the implementation of legal personhood as a juridical tool could lead to a shift towards a more ecocentric conception of nature. A philosophical approach will highlight the underlying discussion of the worth we grant nature and its correlated socio-cultural tradition. A legal approach will set this into the context of the German constitution and examine this issue by proposing constitutional amendments.

Keywords: Environmental Personhood, Legal Personhood, Ecocentrism, German Constitution, Socio-Cultural Tradition