The Editor’s Post: Why Mother Nature should be a ‘she’ not an ‘it’

Julie Pybus 19th April 2024

Lawyers leading the way for nature, the number of UK B Corps shoots up and which countries in the world have the most social enterprises. This week’s view from the Pioneers Post newsroom.

Nature plays a starring role this week on the Pioneers Post website. Instead of nature being viewed as a freely available resource to be exploited by humans, increasingly it (or she) is being reimagined as a kind of entity – almost a being – with rights of her own: Mother Nature herself.

Of course, this personification isn’t new. The idea of Mother Nature is a fundamental belief of many peoples around the world. But the concept is proving useful in the fight against climate change, particularly relating to the role of businesses, as my colleague Anna Patton explains in the latest feature in our Earth Fixers series, which we produce in partnership with Hogan Lovells.

In 2022, vegan cosmetics brand Faith in Nature made history when it became the first ever company to give nature a seat on its board, obliging it to take into account nature’s interests when making decisions. Other companies have made similar moves, including cheesemaker Willicroft, car company Riversimple and outdoor clothing specialist Patagonia.

This week, Nature became an official recording artist, with tracks – often in collaboration with other artists including Brian Eno and Ellie Golding – listed on Spotify and other music streaming platforms. She will earn royalties which will help to pay for conservation projects. (Read more in The Impact World This Week.)

Fundamental to pioneering initiatives like these, as Anna’s feature points out, is the role of lawyers. In 2022, a new membership body was launched to unite those lawyers around the world who want to help create a sustainable and inclusive economy. The Global Alliance of Impact Lawyers (GAIL) holds its annual summit in London next week, and our reporter Estelle Uba will be there to explore the latest ideas about how the profession of litigation, contracts and regulation can bring about the economic and social paradigm shift that so many wish to see.