大象传媒

We have two special reports in this edition of Business Matters. First Tamasin Ford reports on the growing movement for the Rights of Nature. According to its supporters, the Rights of Nature is an expanding area of law, but are those laws anything more than just symbolic? We talk to Dr Mohammad Abdul Matin by the banks of the Buriganga River in Dhaka about the future for the country鈥檚 rivers and in New Zealand to Chris Finlayson, who was attorney general in the centre right government that in 2017 passed a law recognising the Whanganui River as a living entity. Cardiff University law professor, Anna Grear, tells us why giving natural phenomena the same legal status as humans is no safeguard against exploitation. There are other options on the table - Jojo Mehta from the Stop Ecocide campaign explains why she thinks it鈥檚 criminal law that provides the most reliable way of preventing damage to nature. Plus Tamasin goes to Sheffield in the North of England to meet members of STAG, the Sheffield Tree Action Group, who campaigned to stop their council鈥檚 tree-felling programme.

In the second half of this edition Mike Powell brings you the latest, exclusive update of an ongoing aviation industry problem that won鈥檛 go away. Pilots, crew and now passengers allege the air we breathe on board aircraft can do us harm. Mike hears from people who鈥檝e lost their jobs or been involved in emergencies. It鈥檚 an in-depth look at alleged toxic air on the world鈥檚 planes.

Photo: A fisherman throwing his net into the River Buriganga in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Copyright Salman Saeed/大象传媒