Does it make sense for the law to confer rights on the environment?

摘要

Introduction The essence of conferring rights on the environment is to recognise the environment, its flora, fauna and inhabitants, including we humans, as individual entities. This is important because currently an owner of a grand vista is able, within certain legal reason, to do whatever they wish with it. If rights were conferred on the environment, a picturesque valley could fight back against open cast mining without the necessity of a human having an interest in that valley in order to bring an action in his capacity as advocate in the valley's defence.