Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

Related to that, one of their recommendations was the idea of the rights of nature and specifically about nature being treated as our relative, which is a good way of thinking about it. This relates to the understanding that humanity is a part of nature and that a rift has been opened up between humanity and nature that needs to be overcome. The concept of rights of nature is a potentially very important one. There is a lot to be learned in terms of the indigenous understanding of the relationship between humanity and nature and how that is reflected. It is something our committee will need to work on because having the right wording in the Constitution that gives procedural but also substantive rights of nature could potentially be very important. Could the witnesses expand on that? Some people might wonder how nature could have rights and how and by whom they would be exercised and how they could be complementary to the idea of a human right to a clean environment, safe living space, and a future for our children and grandchildren and so on.