Property Rights and Sustainability: The Evolution of Property Rights to Meet Ecological Challenges

Published with the support of The New Zealand Law Foundation.

As collapses and crises involving ecological systems, economic and financial management and international governance increase, the need for bold alternatives to traditional economic and legal responses has never been more urgent. Property concepts are an important element in the interaction between humans and the natural environment. An important driver of ecological harm, property concepts can also become a powerful tool for responding to ecological problems in ways that have so far eluded both government regulators and markets.

Going beyond the traditional critiques of liberal property theories, Property Rights and Sustainability takes on the challenge of fundamentally reconceptualising property rights and systems. It makes a significant contribution to rebalancing the legal framework in a way that recognises humanity as a member of a larger ecological order, the health and integrity of which is of primary importance to the long-term viability of our planet.

Property Rights and Sustainability will be an indispensable resource for those interested in the relationship between property law and the environment, and the ways in which property law can be reshaped to respond to the ecological challenges of our time.

David Grinlinton is an Associate Professor of Law at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. He has published extensively on property rights and environmental law.

Prue Taylor is a senior lecturer at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. She has published extensively on environmental law, international environmental law and ethics.