We are nature! Human Rights, environmental law, and the illusion of separation

Humans are part of nature. Food is the most manifest expression of our intimate connection with the rest of the living world. However, modern Western thinking and actions treat humans and the rest of nature as two separate spheres. Capitalism in particular is built on the premise that it can dominate and exploit the natural world in order to generate profits.

This article argues that this separation is central to the deep ecological crises that the world is facing and which manifest most strongly in human-made global warming as well as the dramatic loss of biological diversity. The COVID-19 pandemic also forces us to reassess our relationship with the rest of nature. Addressing the existential crises that humanity is facing will require to overcome this separation.

This article intends to lay out some steps that could lead us in that direction, focusing on how human rights and other instruments could better clarify the human-nature relationship.