Nature surrounds us, shapes our communities, and gives meaning to daily life. Yet modern systems too often treat it as something to extract or sell. Protecting the planet requires a new mindset — one that values ecosystems not only for what they provide, but for their beauty, wisdom, and inherent worth.
Across the world, communities are reimagining our relationship with the natural world through the Rights of Nature movement. Countries such as Ecuador and New Zealand have granted ecosystems legal standing, empowering Indigenous and local groups to defend forests, rivers, and biodiversity. In October 2025, wetlands scientists called for global legal recognition of wetlands as rights-bearing ecosystems — highlighting how such protections could safeguard water quality, prevent flooding, and store carbon. This vision echoes knowledge long held by Indigenous peoples: nature is not separate from human life — it is a living system that sustains us all.
A major challenge remains that land, water and biodiversity are still valued mainly in economic terms. The concept of Natural Capital helps governments measure Earth’s stock of natural assets — soil, air, water, and living organisms as the foundation of our economies. Yet traditional models continue to prioritize profit over people and planet.
New frameworks are emerging to rebalance this. True Cost Accounting includes hidden impacts — such as carbon emissions, pollution, and public-health costs — in the real price of goods. In 2025, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) convened a global summit to expand these methods across food systems, while African nations integrated Natural Capital Accounting into climate-resilient development plans. The Circular Economy, inspired by nature’s own cycles, offers another path: designing products and systems so that materials are reused, repaired, or regenerated rather than discarded. Circular strategies could reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by up to 39% by 2032, especially in the food, fashion, and construction sectors.
These models show that restoring ecosystems and strengthening economies can go hand in hand. Businesses can already lead this shift. Everyone, for example, demonstrates what’s possible through safe, non-toxic body-care products made with renewable biofuels from beets, trees, and other natural materials — proving that innovation can work with nature, not against it.
Nature itself also offers solutions. Biomimicry, the practice of learning from nature’s designs and systems, inspires breakthroughs across fields. From Velcro modeled after burrs to bullet trains shaped like the kingfisher’s beak, the natural world has long guided human invention. Today, innovators study how forests recover after wildfires to inform community resilience and how decomposition cycles can inspire circular fashion systems. The Biomimicry Institute champions this movement, showing that when we learn from nature’s intelligence, we move beyond sustainability toward true regeneration.
Each of us has a role to play in this transformation. Every act of care — planting a tree, choosing a reusable product, restoring a green space, or supporting eco-conscious companies — contributes to a culture that values nature as a partner, not a resource. When individual choices align with planetary principles, small actions multiply into powerful change.
Revaluing, respecting, and learning from nature isn’t just environmentalism. It’s the foundation of a thriving, equitable future for all who share this living planet.
PARTNERS
RESOURCES
CHALLENGE
Nature sustains all life — yet our economies often treat it only as something to take. We can help shift that by supporting companies that use business as a force for good, valuing people, planet, and prosperity equally. Every conscious purchase becomes a vote for the kind of world we want to build.
Recognizing the Rights of Nature challenges us to see Earth’s ecosystems as living communities with their own value and voice. From rivers with legal personhood to forests protected by Indigenous guardians, this movement redefines what it means to protect life and justice for the planet.
Nature is the world’s most brilliant engineer. By studying how living systems adapt, we can design solutions that restore balance and resilience. This practice, called biomimicry, shows how nature’s designs can inspire innovation for people and the planet.
Each Greener Winner will receive:
Each Greenest Winner will receive:
