Nature’s Rights Bill [HL]: HL Bill 7 of 2026–27
The Nature’s Rights Bill [HL] is a private member’s bill sponsored by Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party). The bill would recognise nature as a legal subject, granting it specific rights for protection and restoration. The bill would set out a legal framework for how this would operate, including an integrated rights framework and mechanisms for how nature’s rights would be implemented and enforced.
Approximate read time: 11 minutes
Among other requirements, the bill contains provisions on:
- recognising nature as a legal subject, and establishing and protecting its rights
- establishing a legal duty of care for public bodies, businesses, and individuals
- establishing an integrated rights framework
- introducing mechanisms for dispute resolution and legal enforcement
- establishing a nature guardianship council, bioregional councils and a nature’s rights tribunal
It has been drafted by the charity Nature’s Rights. The charity intends for the bill to shift the balance of how the rights of nature are recognised, establishing nature as a “rights-bearing subject” itself which is “foundational to human life, society and economic activity”.
The bill is due to receive its second reading in the House of Lords on 3 July 2026.
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