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Keeping Nature Alive: From Moral Motivations to Legal Implications

Lead Staff: Kathryn Kintzele, J.D.


Rationale

Existing frameworks in law, policy and governance do not appropriately take into consideration the vulnerable voices of civil society and nature, ecological limits, and global ethics. To this end, how can we restructure environmental law at the local, regional, national and global levels such that it is grounded in ethics?

History & Partners

Since 2007, research conducted through this project has been presented annually at the Global Ecological Integrity Group, a partner organization of more than 200 cross-disciplinary individuals from around the world. The article that was presented in 2010 has been submitted for a publication that will be made available in 2011. The first step of this research initiative focused on constitutional comparative law and the second step focused on comparative case law. In addition to the publications, this partnership has proven extremely valuable in expanding membership and experts in the other projects of the Center for Humans and Nature (CHN) Global Program.

Goals & Strategies

The goal of this project is to develop and publish original research on the existing and emerging ethical principles for biodiversity conservation found in law and policy. Outreach will take the form of meetings, book and journal publications, as well as the creation of the Keeping Nature Alive electronic portal. This portal will provide civil society, policy-makers, judges and legislators a single access point to ethical principles found in law around the world, from constitutions to judicial opinions.

What’s Next

The Global Program will begin development of the Keeping Nature Alive portal beginning in January 2011. It will be housed within the CHN website. No other site provides a specific portal for obtaining comparative laws that convey environmental ethics.

The research that will be presented at the 2011 meeting of the Global Ecological Integrity Group, June 28-July 3, in Prague, Czech Republic, will be on the ethical principles as evidenced in local and state policy. This meeting will culminate in a 2012 publication.

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