From Anthropocentrism to Earth-Jurisprudence: Evaluating the Rights of Nature within Ghana's Statutory and International Legal Frameworks

Abstract

Pervasive environmental degradation in Ghana, driven by illegal mining, deforestation, and river pollution, exposes the structural failures of regulatory regimes grounded in anthropocentric resource exploitation. This study addresses the central question of how indigenous systems of customary ecological stewardship can be systematically harmonized and integrated with statutory environmental law to establish an operational, dual-governance Rights of Nature (RoN) framework in Ghana. Utilizing a socio-legal narrative review approach, the paper critically analyzes domestic environmental legislation alongside emerging global ecocentric standards. The findings reveal that Ghana’s legal landscape structurally prioritizes short-term resource exploitation over ecosystem health, a vulnerability severely compounded by institutional fragmentation and the legal subordination of traditional conservation customs to human-centric property regimes. To resolve this systemic gap, the study conceptualizes a dual-governance model that elevates indigenous custodians to autonomous legal guardians alongside state institutions. The paper concludes that achieving long-term ecological resilience requires a decisive shift toward ecocentric norms, supported by two fundamental reforms: amending the 1992 Constitution of Ghana to explicitly recognize the inherent RoN with expanded public enforcement standing, and enacting a unified Environmental Code that formalizes customary ecological stewardship within Ghana's statutory system.