The constitutional protection of animals, the environment, biodiversity, and ecosystems. Let’s change: an invitation collected

Abstract

The global ecological crisis generated by the increasing and indiscriminate exploitation of nature, together with the impressive increase in population, is one of the most urgent problems of our time because of the inherent threat to the very survival of mankind.

The attitude that human have traditionally taken towards nature and the other living species that live together reflects a culture still erroneously focused on anthropocentrism and economic assessments unable to recognize the intrinsic value of life.

After years of debate and legislative inertia, Constitutional Law n. 1 of 11 February 2022, adapting to the most recent Constitutional Charters permeated with animal and environmental sensitivity, has made changes to the Italian Constitution, introducing art. 9, the protection of the environment, biodiversity, and ecosystems, with an explicit reference to the rights of future generations.

This legislative innovation can be a first point of reference for an indispensable change of perspective capable of seeing the relationship between the parties and the whole and the interrelations between all the inhabitants of the natural world, without which it will be difficult if not impossible to pursue effective solutions.