Do trees have (under)standing? : speculating criteria for the legal competence of environmental personhood
Year: 2026
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: This is a post-humanist speculative writing piece on the legal competence of environmental personhood.The legal concept of environmental personhood was established to safeguard the environment and recognise Indigenous peoples' relationships to natural entities as a part of their rights.However, a personhood capable of legal actions only through a named guardian inevitably questions the capacity and competence of nature to speak for itself.This study evaluates the validity of this competence by considering nature's ability to observe, remember, communicate, and remain truthful.These elements are all studied here as aspects of language.The fragments of material for the study are collected from sources ranging from graphic novels to classics of literature, from anthropological studies and linguistics to landscape architecture.Such inquiry does not attempt to discredit the legal concept or to make claims for the environment as an autonomous legal actor; rather, it aims to study the possibilities of building capacity for guardianship to strengthen its legitimacy and ethicality in relation to multispecies natural entities.
Source: Lauda (University of Lapland)
Author: Vola, Joonas
Institution: University of Lapland
Language: English
Topic: Environmental law and policy
Subfield: Law
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: Koneen Säätiö
OpenAlex ID: W7166255003