The idea of giving rights to nature is gaining ground. Already, there are several jurisdictions where nature has a number of rights. There is even a proposal for a universal declaration granting the entire Earth at least the right to exist. Mihnea Tanasescu offers a much needed examination of the concept of giving rights to nature, as well as a first comprehensive analysis of all of the various cases to date, from municipal ordinances in the United States to the constitutional rights of nature in Ecuador. Avoiding partisanship or scorn, this book provides an honest and thorough engagement with both the theory and the practice of enlarging the concept of rights to previously unthinkable territory: nature itself.