Rights of nature as a response to the climate crisis and discourses on sustainability

• We submit for your consideration a manuscript title: Rights of nature as a response to the climate crisis and discourses on sustainability for the special issue Implications of a changing climate for the future of city regions. In this version you find implemented the last adjustments suggested by the reviewers and a cover letter in which the response to the comments is detailed. This article analyzes the emergence of the category of nature as a subject of rights and of the rights of Nature as a proposal for the relationship between human beings and the environment in the context of climate crisis. It considers the discourses on sustainability present at different scales (global, within supranational organizations; national, within various states; and regional or local), which have been used as a basis for the recognition of rights to nature. It is evident, through a multi-scale analysis that the rights of Nature emerge as a novel alternative to the structural causes of climate change associated with the relationships between nature and culture; however, there are discursive differences between scales regarding the concept of sustainability. The analysis in specific territorial contexts allows us to evidence sustainability as a language in action that is transformed to enable the implementation of the rights of Nature. Based on this analysis, some proposals are made, taking into consideration the territorial contexts and community experiences that show the importance of recognizing the visions on sustainability of peoples and ethnic communities to implement the rights of Nature.