Rights of nature, intercultural respect, and climate change
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Date
2026-04-01
Authors
Steel, Daniel
Cripps, Rachel
Crookall, Brynmor
DesRoches, C. Tyler
Mintz-Woo, Kian
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Published Version
Abstract
From a traditional environmental ethics perspective, rights of nature are linked to debates about nonanthropocentrism because they give legal force to the idea that nature has intrinsic moral value. However, we claim that the emergence of Indigenous-led rights of nature initiatives shows that intercultural respect is also an important aspect of this issue. Supported by an example involving an Indigenous nation in Peru, we explain how intercultural respect encourages greater engagement between Western and Indigenous philosophies. On this basis, we advance an argument that a river can be a living being with interests of its own. We also explain how intercultural respect is helpful for understanding the relationship between rights of nature and climate change. In general, our contention is that rights of nature should be understood in the context of efforts to counteract the disrespect of marginalized groups commonly found in environmental injustices.
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Keywords
SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production , SDG 13 - Climate Action , SDG 14 - Life Below Water , Indigenous-led rights of nature initiatives , Intercultural respect , Rights of nature , [SocietyPoliticsEthics]
Citation
Steel, D., Cripps, R., Crookall, B., DesRoches, C. T. and Mintz-Woo, K. (2026) 'Rights of nature, intercultural respect, and climate change', Monist, 109(2), pp. 204-219. https://doi.org/10.1093/monist/onag006