This paper will argue that nature's regenerative cycles have been severed. This situation has been caused by the increasing separation of humankind from the natural world resulting in global climate change, the impacts of which, are threatening the stability of ecosystems across the planet. To change this trend, human-nature relationships require rebuilding to enable communities to live within the planet's environmental capacity. It is widely agreed that human survival is dependent on adaptation and mitigation strategies. In 2013, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change highlighted the need for climate change adaptation alongside a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. This call supports the need to strengthen legislative approaches to sustainable development focused on securing the future for generations dependent on viable ecosystems, the cycles of life. To further consider this problem, the origins of legal systems will be explored to ascertain if traditional practices of customary law can enhance contemporary adaptive approaches to climate change. Natural resource protection and management is increasingly being examined through coupled human and nature systems. A new coupled systems framework, the EcoCycle, is introduced, to assist this research. As one of the most vulnerable nations to the impacts of climate change that legally recognises the significance of customary law, The Republic of Vanuatu offers the critical attributes as a case study location. As the planet struggles to adapt to the impacts of climate change, customary law may assist adaptation strategies and the restoration of human-nature relationships.