Sustainability and the Rights of Nature: An Introduction (Social Environmental Sustainability)

**Sustainability and the Rights of Nature: An Introduction** is a much-needed guide that addresses the exciting and significant paradigm shift to the Rights of Nature, as it is occurring both in the United States and internationally in the fields of environmental law and environmental sustainability. This shift advocates building a relationship of integrity and reciprocity with the planet by placing Nature in the forefront of our rights-based legal systems. The authors discuss means of achieving this by laying out Nature’s Laws of Reciprocity and providing a roadmap of the strategies and directions needed to create a Rights of Nature-oriented legal system that will shape and maintain human activities in an environmentally sustainable manner. This work is enriched with an array of unique and relevant points of reference such as the feudal notions of obligation, principles of traditional indigenous cultivation, the Pope Francis Encyclical on the environment, and the new Rights of Nature-based legal systems of Ecuador and Bolivia that can serve as prototypes for the United States and other countries around the world to help ensure a future of environmental sustainability for all living systems. Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Table of Contents -- Foreword -- Series Preface -- Author's Preface -- Authors -- Introduction -- Endnotes -- Section I : Nature's Laws of Reciprocity -- Chapter 1: Nature's Laws of Reciprocity -- Nature's Laws of Reciprocity -- Law 1-Everything Is a Relationship -- Law 2-All Relationships Are All Inclusive and Productive of an Outcome -- Law 3-The Only True Investment in Our Global Ecosystem Is Energy from Sunlight -- Law 4-All Systems Are Defined by Their Function -- Law 5-All Relationships Result in a Transfer of Energy -- Law 6-All Relationships Are Self-Reinforcing Feedback Loops -- Law 7-All Relationships Have One or More Trade-Offs -- Law 8-Change Is a Process of Eternal Becoming -- Law 9-All Relationships Are Irreversible -- Law 10-All Systems Are Based on Composition, Structure, and Function -- Law 11-All Systems Have Cumulative Effects, Lag Periods, and Thresholds -- Law 12-All Systems Are Cyclical, but None Are Perfect Circles -- Law 13-Systemic Change Is Based on Self-Organized Criticality -- Law 14-Dynamic Disequilibrium Rules All Systems -- Law 15-This Present Moment, the Here and Now, Is All We Ever Have -- Endnotes -- Chapter 2: Rights of Nature-The Emerging Legal Paradigm -- Ecuador Speaks: The Rights of Nature in the Constitution -- The First Rights of Nature Legal Case in the World -- Bolivia Speaks: The Rights of Nature in the Law -- First Steps in the United States: A Beginning for the Rights of Nature -- Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund and the Rights of Nature -- A Watershed Tries to Protect Itself in Court -- Highland Township and Other Communities Embrace the Rights of Nature -- The Rights of Nature Vision Takes Shape -- How "The Universal Rights of Mother Earth" Came into Being -- Giving Mother Earth a Voice Nature's Laws Of Reciprocity : A Beginning -- Rights Of Nature : The Emerging Legal Paradigm -- Other International Voices For The Rights Of Nature -- Relationship : The Basis For Rights Of Nature -- Precursors To Right Of Nature -- Internatioanl Steps Towards Rights Of Nature -- Rights Of Nature Concepts And Issues -- The Problem Of Technology -- Corporations And The Rights Of Nature -- Land -- Water -- Air And Climate -- Food Supply -- Sources Of Energy -- Mining And Drilling -- International Trade : Moving Goods And People -- Conclusion : Rights Of Nature And Our Responsibility. Cameron La Follette, Chris Maser. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Content: Nature's laws of reciprocity -- Rights of nature : the emerging legal paradigm -- Other international voices for nature's rights -- Relationship : the basis for rights of nature -- Precursors to right of nature -- Internatioanl steps towards rights of nature -- Rights of anture concepts and issues -- The problem of technology -- Corporations and the rights of nature -- Land -- Water -- Air and climate -- Food supply -- Sources of energy -- Mining and drilling -- International trade : moving goods and people -- Conclusion : rights of nature and our responsibility.