Abstract
In recent years, “#ForNature” has been the slogan most used by international organizations in online communication when writing about environmental issues, including UNEP, UNDP and IPBES. At the same time, several high-level environmental governance documents mention the idea that nature is endowed with “intrinsic value”, “intrinsic rights” and “non-anthropocentric values”. The audience is urged to “act for nature”, to live in “harmony with nature”, and therefore to achieve a sustainable future. The questions of whose values and whose future tend to remain unanswered. Yet, when debated at the global level, these questions meet the context of global pluralism of worldviews regarding the very idea of nature. The move that attempts to place values and rights within non-human elements must beware from risking placing these values and rights beyond the scope of critical debates between human beings holding different worldviews. Otherwise, it could lead to eco-dogmatism and abusive practices against some human groups and other-than-human elements by naturalizing claims and imposing them on other worldviews and cultures. This paper reviews the scientific and grey literature and explores how we could reframe the question of “whose sustainable future” in terms of multispecies societies, while taking seriously the global pluralism of worldviews.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Economic, Social, and Cultural Context
KEYWORDS
Environmental Ethics, Global Environmental Governance, Rights of Nature, Nature's Values
