RoN as an environmental policy instrument, with theoretical origins in the 1970s, has been gaining strength in the last 12 years. Various countries has been legislating and implementing RoN via its constitution (e.g. Ecuador, Bolivia) or other national and local laws (Columbia, New Zealand, India, Mexico City and three dozen US cities and municipalities). Across the world, there have been many cases of legislated RoN implementation won successfully in court. For example, as of 2016, Ecuador has won 10 of the 13 cases of RoN in court, at various levels. Tracking down these successful cases and matching them to environmental and development targets and indicators, at various levels i.e. ecosystems and species, cities/municipalities and country, can be useful to demonstrate the effectiveness of RoN as an emerging environmental policy instrument, in achieving global sustainability agenda including Sustainable Development Goals and Aichi Biodiversity Targets. Each country’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan or a city’s local sustainability plan can serve as platforms by which targets and indicators are reconciled among and between RoN, SDGs and ABTs. While there is an initial emphasis on legislated RoN cases with successful implementation across the world, we can also learn from legislated RoN cases with poor implementation. These formed part of the project development initiative being done by Earth Law Center and collaborators where the strategic objective is to further gain theoretical and empirical groundings for RoN and to mainstream RoN to current global policy discussions.

Thus, it is imperative to respond to the following research questions:

1) What is the relationship between RoN and SDGs and ABTs? In what ways are they consistent with each other? In what ways do they diverge in principle and assumptions? and;

2) How effective is RoN in practice, in transforming environment and society in achieving SDGs and ABTs, at ecosystem and species or city/town and; country levels.