Catching the tide: Reversing legal trends to find collective and long-term solutions that value the natural world

TY - JOUR

T1 - Catching the tide

T2 - Challenges to a Sustainable Recovery:<br/>

AU - Reid, Colin

PY - 2022/10/19

Y1 - 2022/10/19

N2 - The social and economic trends that have contributed to the current climate and biodiversity crises have been created by and reflected in the law in many ways. Looking primarily at experience in the UK, it can be seen that much that is deeply embedded in the law needs to change to enable a more sustainable future. In particular, we have seen a move to greater individualism when we need to adopt more collective solutions, we have seen an emphasis on short-term priorities when we need to take a longer-term view and we have seen a focus on economic and commercial value when we need to value more highly the natural world. The past trends in the evolution of the law must be reversed, requiring consideration across many legal areas. Examples of past evolution are identified to show how the law encourages unsustainable ways of working and obstructs, or fails to enable and incentivise, improvement, before more recent positive developments are discussed to illustrate how legal structures can be recast to support a new way of living based on collective and long-term approaches and a partnership with nature. Ensuring a sustainable future requires a break from many inherited legal structures.

AB - The social and economic trends that have contributed to the current climate and biodiversity crises have been created by and reflected in the law in many ways. Looking primarily at experience in the UK, it can be seen that much that is deeply embedded in the law needs to change to enable a more sustainable future. In particular, we have seen a move to greater individualism when we need to adopt more collective solutions, we have seen an emphasis on short-term priorities when we need to take a longer-term view and we have seen a focus on economic and commercial value when we need to value more highly the natural world. The past trends in the evolution of the law must be reversed, requiring consideration across many legal areas. Examples of past evolution are identified to show how the law encourages unsustainable ways of working and obstructs, or fails to enable and incentivise, improvement, before more recent positive developments are discussed to illustrate how legal structures can be recast to support a new way of living based on collective and long-term approaches and a partnership with nature. Ensuring a sustainable future requires a break from many inherited legal structures.

KW - Environmental Law

KW - Climate Change

KW - Sustainability

KW - Legal history

KW - Land law

KW - Legal policy

KW - Valuing nature

KW - Collective action

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85140065690

U2 - 10.1111/1758-5899.13152

DO - 10.1111/1758-5899.13152

M3 - Article

SN - 1758-5899

JO - Global Policy

JF - Global Policy

Y2 - 15 September 2021 through 16 September 2021

ER -