Environmental law and policy

Environmental law and policy examines how legal systems recognize, regulate, and enforce obligations toward the natural world, from domestic statutes to international treaties like the Aarhus Convention, which guarantees public access to environmental decision-making. A growing area of debate concerns whether rivers, forests, or ecosystems can hold legal personhood—granting nature standing to be represented in court—a move already enacted in several jurisdictions and closely tied to indigenous legal traditions that have long understood landscapes as rights-bearing entities. Climate change litigation is pushing these questions into new territory, as courts are increasingly asked whether states and transnational corporations bear enforceable duties to reduce emissions or compensate for harm. Researchers are actively working out how human rights frameworks, constitutional environmental protections, and the emerging doctrine of nature's rights can be made coherent and enforceable across borders.

Works

51,840

Total citations

129,596

Keywords

Rights of NatureEnvironmental LawClimate Change LitigationAarhus ConventionLegal PersonhoodHuman Rights