Our laws make slaves of nature. It’s not just humans who need rights | Mari Margil

For decades our laws have been a death sentence for the environment. Now, from the Amazon to Australia, the tide is turningThe Amazon rainforest is often called the earth’s lungs, and generates 20% of the world’s oxygen. Yet in the past half-century nearly a fifth of it has been cut down. The felling and burning of millions of trees is releasing massive amounts of carbon, in turn depleting the Amazon’s capacity to be one of the world’s largest carbon sinks – the natural systems that suck up and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Related: Can climate litigation save the world? In 2006 the first law recognising the legal rights of nature was enacted in the borough of Tamaqua, Pennsylvania Related: Bolivia enshrines natural world's rights with equal status for Mother Earth Continue reading...