From “Do trees have rights?” to wondering about ecocide –drawing on the rule of law to protect our environment+

Abstract

This study argues that trees and other natural resources should have rights (for example, the right to exist) and that environmental groups should be entitled to speak for them and to present their claims in court. It calls for a little deeper thinking about what specific rights trees need in order to prosper as trees. In fact, we draw as to what legitimately may be done to the environment surrounding trees without trespassing upon their respective rights might be different. When the legislator has enacted laws that do protect trees (or surfaces of water, or habitats for birds and animals), the important next question then becomes, ‘how are those laws actually to be enforced?’ One possibility is to amend the Rome Statute to include ecocide.