Property Law and (More Than One Notion of) Sustainability: A New Field

Absolute ownership fuels the overexploitation of nature. Property-law scholars analyse and devise innovations to build sustainable economies and societies. This contribution argues that in this new field of ‘Property Law and Sustainability’ (PropLS), diverging concepts of sustainability have been pursued. Some scholars subscribe to sustainability as requiring radically changed economies and societies, particularly through a massive reduction of consumption. By contrast, the majority of PropLS-scholars presuppose that through technological advancement and diffusion, the current system can be maintained. Despite these diverging assumptions, this contribution pleads for a unified PropLS-field, to take advantage of plentiful synergies for fruitful exchange and collaboration.