Title:
The adoption of Rights of Nature in the Mexican constitution: A critical assessment of the new Mexican environmental constitutionalism.
Abstract: In the current context of environmental and biodiversity crises, an international movement that brings together academics, scientists, and NGOs have emerged to demand action to tackle the environmental challenges created by humans. The legal philosophy of Rights of nature presents an alternative route to address environmental justice problems. The attempt to articulate specific rights for nature is now a feature of several Latin American constitutions. In the past ten years, countries such as Ecuador and Bolivia have adapted their legal and constitutional frameworks to create and give effect to new rights and processes for environmental protection in ways that have allowed the participation of marginalised actors. The rights of nature movement have resonated in other Latin American countries such as Colombia, Argentina, Chile and Mexico.
This research focuses on the inclusion of the rights of nature in Mexico’s state constitutions. Additionally, this research aims to analyse the socio-legal aspect of the construction of rights of nature as a legal concept in the Mexican context, to investigate the basis for the 2021 bill to reform the Mexican constitution to incorporate rights of nature presented to the Mexican Senate.