Policy Paper: Political Representation of Nature

The debate over the most effective implementation of political representation of nature has gained momentum in recent years. Scientific publications (Non-Human Nature in World Politics, Planet Politics, Politics of Nature, Political Representation of Nonhuman Animals) and several civil society organisations and projects (Embassy of the North Sea, ORGANISMENDEMOKRATIE, PLANETARY PERSONHOOD, DemokraTiere, Animals in the Room) have addressed the issue. The debate is driven by several emerging trends, such as the political turn in environmental ethics and the representative turn in political theory. In the context of several advances in the legal representation of nature (Whanganui River, Mar Menor), the scope of the discussion is now being extended to issues surrounding the representation of nature in the legislative and executive branches of government. This policy paper contributes to the ongoing debate and provides new proposals for the design of various institutional mechanisms for the political representation of nature. The paper focuses on a novel Planetary Parliament, which is characterized by the global representation of living beings (plants, fungi, animals, microorganisms) and nonliving nature (lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, cryosphere).