Ocean Optimism Making Waves

June 8th marks World Ocean Day, a worldwide call to action to put the Ocean first. In the 15 years since its official recognition by the United Nations, this designation has grown into a global movement, uniting youth leaders, policymakers, Indigenous communities, scientists, and a vast range of both private sector and civil society organizations to protect and restore the Ocean. 

This World Ocean Day presents an opportune moment for genuine reflection, allowing us to consider both the challenges confronting the Ocean and to embrace optimism for the future. Today, we reflect on the recent victories of Earth Law Center’s Ocean Rights program and how we can further catalyze action to change the tides on Ocean health. 

The Ocean Race One Blue Voice Pavilion in Newport, Rhode Island, May, 2023. Photo by Rachel Bustamante

Ocean Rights Gains Momentum

The initiative “Towards a Universal Declaration of Ocean Rights (UDOR)” is gaining remarkable momentum! Launched in March 2022 with The Ocean Race, Nature’s Rights and the municipality of Genoa, Italy, the UDOR aims to create a shared global vision of positive human-Ocean relationships and give the Ocean a voice and representation within a multinational governance system. 

The government of Cabo Verde signed on in 2022 to lead the introduction of Ocean Rights within the United Nations General Assembly in September 2023, and with the support of Monaco, are leading discussions with governments to increase formal support at the UN and national levels. Additionally, local governments have also formally supported the UDOR, including Itajaí and Santa Catarina, Brasil, Aarhus, Denmark, and Newport as well as the House of Representatives of Rhode Island. 

The campaign has fostered dialogue and consultation through six 'Innovation Workshops' thus far, bringing together over 150+ experts, policymakers, business leaders, lawyers, Indigenous Peoples, scientists, NGOs, and stakeholders to engage in meaningful discussions on Ocean Rights. We are now in the process of taking all the input into account and moving towards a draft document outlining a new values-based foundation (or code of conduct) to serve as a starting point for the UDOR and its inclusion in upcoming UN agendas. 

In addition, the One Blue Voice petition to collect support has now garnered over 24,000 signatures. We encourage you to actively participate in shaping an ecologically sustainable future for the Ocean by signing and sharing the petition. Your support is crucial in ensuring the thriving and well-being of the Ocean!

The Universal Declaration of Ocean Rights milestone map.

Panama Recognizes Sea Turtles’ Rights

In March 2023, Panama’s President Laurentino Cortizo signed a national law promoting the Protection and Conservation of Sea Turtles and their Habitats. This law recognizes the rights of sea turtles to live and have free passage in a healthy environment, free of pollution and other human impacts that cause physical damage. Truly a landmark example, this law is likely the first national law to guarantee and identify the rights of a specific species.

Photo by Michael Ryan Clark.

In 2021, Congressman Gabriel Silva proposed the law, which underwent three legal debates to receive input and shape its provisions before ultimately reaching the President's desk. Earth Law Center, in partnership with The Leatherback Project, provided legal feedback to the draft. 

This law identifies sea turtles as having individual value beyond the context of human benefits or perceptions, especially given that these highly endangered species offer a window into the health of the Ocean. Occurring in one of the most biodiverse countries on Earth, this law opens the door for other species’ rights to be recognized in Rights of Nature supporting countries, and sets a fantastic precedent for future legislation!

New Publication on Sharks and Rights of Nature

Rachel Bustamante of Earth Law Center recently published Beyond Protection: Recognizing Nature’s Rights to Conserve Sharks, in the journal Sustainability, laying out approaches to improve the protection and restoration of sharks and their habitats. Globally, sharks are highly threatened by overfishing, habitat degradation, and climate change. As both keystone species and apex predators, sharks regulate food webs and maintain ecological balance. In fact, sharks are fundamental to maintaining a healthy Ocean!
This paper explores how we can move beyond merely protecting sharks and reimagine a more harmonious relationship between humans, sharks, and the Ocean. This publication is within an emerging body of work that reimagines how we can use Rights of Nature frameworks to enshrine protections for specific species.

What Can You Do?

These three stories are but a small sliver of our work. Continue your involvement and support of Earth Law Center’s many efforts to ensure the Ocean is healthy and thrives.

• Sign the One Blue Voice campaign petition

• Read about Ocean Rights

• Volunteer

• Donate

In addition, support the World Ocean Day movement directly by taking the Conservation Action Focus survey.

Most importantly, continue to spread the word about the importance of conserving, protecting, and empowering the Ocean!

Graphic by UN World Oceans Day

Exploring the Deep-Seas and the Risk of Mining

ELC Ocean Team, Xander Deanhardt and Kendall Fowler

The deep-sea is a region full of biodiversity. Scientifically defined as the area of the Ocean 200 meters or deeper, the deep-sea is now at risk of exploitation from mining. In June 2021, the island nation, the Republic of Nauru, invoked a two-year rule under the International Seabed Authority (ISA), the United Nations body that oversees mining. This action pressures the ISA to complete regulations so that commercial mining of the seabed, a process where machines scour the seafloor for rare minerals, could begin as early as mid-2023. Consequently, if applications from industries wanting to mine the seafloor are submitted, this two-year rule means they could be considered by the ISA even without final guidelines in place to protect the marine environment. 

Image courtesy of the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, Gulf of Mexico 2017.

This issue however is not one solely of industry versus environmental proponents. The mineral modules present on the deep-sea floor are rare minerals argued as necessary for the construction of electric vehicle batteries. Some argue that in order to curb greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere and transition the global economy to more sustainable transportation, mining of the deep-sea is required. However, more studies are emerging showing that deep sea minerals will not be necessary by 2050 and car manufacturers such as Volkswagen and BMW, have voiced they will not be using these minerals in their supply chain. 

How is DSM being regulated?

The ISA was established under the UN Convention on the Laws of the Sea (UNCLOS) and has a mandate to regulate and control all mineral related activities in the international seabed and subsoil, known as the “Area” and outside the jurisdiction of any single nation. The ISA is responsible for creating regulations to guide decision making in the Area. Under the ISA’s mandate from the UN, it must act on behalf of all mankind and take necessary measures to ensure effective protection of the marine environment. The ISA has allowed regulated exploration of the Area, facilitating scientific research to guide a better understanding of the deep-sea environment, and has been developing regulations for exploitation for a few years. In September 2022, the ISA announced that the company, Nauru Ocean Resources Inc (NORI, a Republic of Nauru national), was given permission to “test-mine” in the Clarion Clipperton Zone. NORI is projected to remove 3,600 tonnes of polymetallic nodules (the equivalent of the weight of approximately 35,000 blue whales) by the end of 2022. 

UNCLOS states that if a nation alerts the ISA that it has the intent to start exploitation of the Area, a two-year deadline is triggered, giving the ISA two-years to complete regulations for exploitation before applications for mining can be submitted. The Republic of Nauru sent a request to the ISA in June of 2021 and due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the complexity of the issue, the regulations are not near completion despite the deadline of the two-year trigger occurring in the summer of 2023. If the regulations are not complete by the July 2023 deadline, contractors could start to submit plans of work for mining the deep-seabed and permits may be issued based on only provisional exploitation regulations. 

Why is deep sea mining an important issue?

The Ocean is the lifesource of our planet, providing half of the oxygen we breathe, sequestering carbon dioxide and mitigating climate change, and providing jobs, food and livelihood for millions of people. The deep sea has flourished for millenia, supporting some of the most biodiverse and scientifically important ecosystems on Earth, and is vital to the overall health and functioning of the Ocean. Many deep-sea organisms have long life cycles, for example there are sponges found to be 10,000 years old! Little is known regarding deep-sea ecosystems and mining impacts to the deep-sea and Ocean as a whole. However, novel research analyzing the potential harms of mining suggests devastating effects. In fact, initial studies have indicated that the effects of deep-seabed mining on the seafloor could persist for hundreds of years. Other projections suggest that each individual mining operation may disturb between 300 and 800 square kilometers per year, with impacts spreading over an area two to five times larger due to sediment being kicked up by mining machinery. An additional harm would be the noise produced by a deep-sea mine. Studies have estimated that a single deep-sea mine’s noise could travel approximately 500 kilometers, causing disturbances and confusion for several deep-sea creatures. 

As noted by the Pacific Blue Line Initiative and others, for millennia, communities and peoples worldwide have revered the Ocean as a living being, and as an ancestor or kin, with whom we have responsibilities to respect and care for. In fact, the Hawaiian creation chant, or Kumulipo, explains how life began from the first organism, a coral polyp found in the deep sea, and is the extension of our genealogy. 

Additionally, over 90% of Pacific people rely on the Ocean for their livelihood. Negative impacts on fish in or near the area will be felt by those inhabiting coastal communities. A report by the Deep Sea Mining Campaign and MiningWatch Canada stated that DSM would have negative repercussions for Pacific Islanders, specifically, it would have negative impacts on local fishers which are a main source of wealth, food security, and employment for many in the Pacific. DSM will therefore result in environmental degradation and destruction of livelihoods and habitats across the Pacific and world.

Image credit: Amanda Dillon, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2011914117

What can you do?

While some countries and industries push to mine for the minerals needed for electric vehicle batteries from the seafloor, the future of deep-sea mining is still uncertain, and there are many parties trying to shape its future. Several countries, NGOs, marine scientists and policy experts are calling for a moratorium, or ban, on deep-sea mining, citing the unknown extent of harm that deep-sea mining could cause to marine and coastal environments and species. Additionally, several member nations of the ISA as well as NGOs are exploring alternative legal options to halt the possibility of mining contracts receiving conditional approval this year in the absence of completed and adopted exploitation regulations. Many arguments are grounded in the idea that the ISA is mandated to protect the marine environment, and the limited information known about mining the deep-seabed indicates possible irreparable damage and widespread effects. The next meeting of the ISA Council is Starting Now, (in March 2023) make sure your voice is heard, such as signing a petition below or writing to your countries delegates.

1. Call on your government to add its voice and support a global ban or precautionary pause on DSM. 

2. Click the following link to add your name to the official letter to stop deep-sea mining. Signatures from the letter will be delivered to United Nations and International Seabed Authority representatives. 

3. Support and share the Pacific Blue Line Initiative and Indigenous petition against DSM. 

4. Additionally, watch and share Deep Rising, a new documentary that draws attention to the impacts deep-sea mining would have on the environment as well as other well made educational videos, including this one from Deep Sea Conservation Coalition and learn more!

What about the Rights of Nature?

ELC is exploring how alternative legal pathways may support the global call to stop DSM before it starts. Rights of Nature recognizes Nature as a living being with inherent rights, with the underlying philosophy and ethic that all beings have rights and intrinsic worth merely for existing. Over thirty countries have embraced the Rights of Nature through constitutional amendments, national law, judicial decisions, treaty agreements, local law, or resolutions. Scientific evidence that deep-sea mining will likely harm if not completely devastated marine environments and species runs completely contrary to Rights of Nature, which is now recognized as an integral part to the implementation of the recent global agreement for biodiversity, known as the Kunming-Montreal Global biodiversity framework. More to come in a second blog on this critical issue, but for now, watch this short video clip discussing the importance of shifting the focus away from the right to use the Earth’s natural resources and toward a Rights of Nature approach. 

Get involved and stay up to date on deep-sea mining:

Sign up for the ELC Newsletter

Read about Ocean Rights

Volunteer

Donate

Image courtesy of the NOAA Ocean Exploration, Exploring Deep-sea Habitats off Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. 

Rights for the Southern Resident Orcas Gains Momentum

By Michelle Bender, Rachel Bustamante and Kriss Kevorkian

The Southern Resident Orcas are a critically endangered subspecies of orca found primarily off the coasts of British Columbia and Washington in the Salish Sea. They have been at the center of a campaign led by Earth Law Center (ELC) and partner, Legal Rights for the Salish Sea (LRSS), to protect and recover their population by recognizing their inherent rights and the ecosystems on which they depend. The long-term goal is State level recognition of the population’s inherent rights and active steps towards implementation. The campaign was launched in 2018 as a response to their continued decline, despite federal legal protections for nearly two decades. The Southern Resident Orca (“the Orcas”) has only 73 individuals left in the wild. The original scope focused on the entire Salish Sea, but ELC and LRSS decided to pivot and focus on the Orcas as the stepping stone to a broader paradigm shift in Washington, because as the Orcas go, we go.

In 2019/2020, ELC worked on a draft State bill with various legal experts, and focused on education and awareness building. ELC and LRSS have been busy at work, including holding many workshops and roundtables to increase Rights of Nature education in the Pacific Northwest. ELC also created a toolkit which was distributed early in 2022 to provide advocates with the tools they need to support the campaign; including a template resolution, talking points, frequently asked questions and social media templates. You can take action and view the toolkit here. (We encourage viewing the template resolution as a guide while adding the unique views and values of your community. Please let us know when you've done this so we can include you in the campaign.)

Jefferson County Commissioners alongside members of the North Olympic Orca Pod at the signing of the Jefferson County Proclamation

In late 2022, our initiative started to receive significant support at the local level. It began when Port Townsend expressed interest after outreach from LRSS and ELC drafted an updated version of our template resolution in line with a Proclamation. Since December 2022, four cities (Port Townsend, Gig Harbor, Langley, Bainbridge) and two counties (Jefferson County and San Juan County) in Washington State have passed proclamations recognizing the inherent rights of the Orcas (you can view all the proclamations here), and the number continues to grow.  

More cities and counties are also considering proclamations and we will continue to update this blog as they come in! These local actions are creating the momentum needed to call for immediate state-level action to address the main threats to the Southern Resident Orcas’ survival. Local organizing and resolutions/proclamations have proven powerful tools to gain state and federal action in the United States, and we hope that 2024 will be the year for a state bill or comparable proclamation in Washington’s legislative session.

Who are the Southern Resident Orcas? 

The Southern Resident Orcas are a keystone species in the Pacific Northwest, meaning they play a critical role in sustaining the ecological health of the ecosystems they inhabit and are an important indicator of Ocean health. The primary threats to Orcas include a limited availability of their primary prey, chinook salmon, underwater noise and toxic contaminants polluting their habitats. They are highly social creatures that are culturally, spiritually, and economically important to the people of Washington State and the world. To explore more about the Southern Resident Orcas and their ecological importance, read more here. 

How can recognizing their rights help their dire situation?

Recognition of their inherent rights demonstrates that we value their population and acknowledge their ecological needs. For example, the Port Townsend proclamation states that the Orcas have inherent rights to: “life, autonomy, culture, free and safe passage, adequate food supply from naturally occurring sources, and freedom from conditions causing physical, emotional, or mental harm, including a habitat degraded by noise, pollution, and contamination.” Recognizing the inherent rights of the Orcas is not only crucial for the protection and recovery of their population but also for respecting and upholding the cultural, spiritual, and economic importance of these creatures to the Indigenous communities who have lived in the region for millenia. 

Approximately 30 countries already have hundreds of Rights of Nature laws, with dozens at the local and tribal levels in the United States. For example Santa Monica's Sustainability Rights Ordinance, the Nez Perce's resolution recognizing the rights of the Snake River, and both San Francisco and Malibu have passed resolutions protecting the rights of whales and dolphins in their coastal waters.

Take action to help protect the Southern Resident Orcas and their ecosystems!

Overall, this campaign is making significant progress in advocating for safeguarding and recovering their declining population. The support of cities and counties in Washington demonstrate a growing recognition of the urgent need to protect this species and their habitat. However, more action is needed to ensure their long-term survival. 

To help protect the Southern Resident Orcas and their ecosystems, you can stay informed and engaged by following the progress of this ongoing campaign, learning more about these magnificent species, and advocating for stronger protections.

• Sign the petition on change.org 

• Donate 

• Stay Informed 

• Previous blogs on this campaign:

• The Lummi Nation’s Fight for ‘Rights of the Orcas,’ 2019

• Rights for the Southern Resident Killer Whales, 2018 

• Why Earth Law Will be Good for Puget Sound in Washington State, USA, 2018

Launch of Earth Law Portal to Transform Ideas to Action

Launch of Earth Law Portal to Transform Ideas to Action

Every day we see troubling news of climate change impacts or environmental degradation around the globe, reminding us that we need to transform ideas to action for a healthier planet. Flooding in Pakistan. Areas of the Amazon rainforest and Earth’s climate reaching new tipping points. 

Earth Law is the body of law that evolves legal and governance systems to view Nature as a living being, recognizing our human responsibilities to and interdependent relationship with the environment. This legal movement is emerging worldwide with frequent new developments. Just this year: Panama passed a Rights of Nature law, Mar Menor ecosystem was recognized as a legal entity, and the Convention on Biological Diversity increased support for the Rights of Mother Earth. But to further momentum, we need a method to scale these efforts and provide access to robust and effective legal models.

Earth Law Portal 

Earth Law Center and partners will launch a portal called Earth Law: Transforming Ideas to Action for a Healthier Planet in summer 2023. This will be a digital portal and repository of Earth Law legal models and templates. Here, legislators, activists, and others can customize and download Earth laws—much like other law template sites, but for the planet! 

This new initiative will generate a user-friendly website to mainstream Earth-centered laws (e.g. Rights of Nature, Rights of Future Generations, Right to a Healthy Environment, Indigenous Inherent Relationships, Rights of Mother Earth, etc.). Many of these movements are already advancing around the world. Our vision for Earth Law is to amplify these efforts and partner with organizations and allies to make best practices and resources accessible to all—-to empower communities, governments and everyone to take action for Nature. 

In addition, the portal will provide educational resources to grow awareness and understand how to implement these templates. By seeking to restore balance to our relationship with Nature, we collectively protect human well-being by contributing to the protection of ecosystems that support all life.

ELC is excited to advance this initiative, and will keep readers informed with updates as it progresses. If you have any questions about Earth Law, or your organization has interest in partnering with us (to share your templates or resources within the shared portal), we invite you to send queries to info@earthlaw.org.

How can you help? 

• Make a monthly contribution of $5 to protect our only home

• Connect with us on social media and Sign up for the ELC Newsletter 

• Volunteer

The Ocean needs a High Seas Treaty

Silas Baisch from Unsplash

The Ocean needs a High Seas Treaty

The High Seas are two-thirds of the world’s Ocean. Despite being home to a myriad of biodiversity, (such as the Pacific Blue Tuna, White Shark or Leatherback Sea Turtle), and numerous species still unknown to science, there is still no comprehensive framework on how to govern human activity on the High Seas. 

History of High Seas Governance

In 1982, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) marked the beginning of global agreement for the Ocean. The High Seas, also known as the Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ), is the water column of the Ocean areas outside a coastal country’s Exclusive Economic Zone, generally 200-miles offshore. That is to say, no one country has the sole responsibility of these areas, so governance ought to be collective and collaborative across the globe. 

While UNCLOS requires nations ‘to protect and preserve the marine environment,’ there are significant legal and governance gaps that consequently, have not effectively deterred overfishing and other human induced threats. 

Fortunately, there has been recognition of the need to better protect marine biological diversity on the High Seas for decades. The development of a new international and legally-binding treaty under UNCLOS is long overdue, but has yet to reach formal adoption.  

High Seas Treaty Talks Continue

The fifth round of United Nations High Seas negotiations (IGC-5) ended in New York on August 26, without reaching consensus on the treaty. 

Though IGC-5 was intended to be the last scheduled session, delegations will have to meet again this year to fulfill the deadline of adopting the treaty by the end of 2022 (set by UN General Assembly resolution 72/249). 

Commenting on the 2022 target, the High Seas Alliance, a coalition of organizations, of which Earth Law Center is a part of, pushed for momentum and collaboration between States to continue, stating “this is essential if the world is to achieve the goal of protecting 30% of the ocean by 2030 - something which cannot be achieved without the Treaty.”

Why the urgency?  

The failure to adopt a treaty to protect marine life on the High Seas comes at a critical time. Speaking at the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon in June, UN Secretary-General António Guterres declared “we have taken the ocean for granted and today we face what I would call an ocean emergency.”

Ocean health continues to decline. This is a defining moment and historical opportunity to restore a relationship of care and stewardship of the Ocean. 

Rights and Interests of Marine Life

Though State interests and disagreements halted the negotiation process, one brightspot is the  recommendation submitted by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) for the treaty to include: 

“Stressing the need to respect the balance of rights, obligations and interests set out in the Convention, as well as the rights and interests of future generations and marine life to a healthy, productive and resilient ocean” (Preamable Paragraph 2). 

Where negotiations ended, this text was not yet included in the treaty, but we look forward to continuing advocacy for the Ocean’s rights and interests to be recognized. This would be the first global treaty to do so! 

Acknowledging the Ocean as a rightsholder and interest would help ensure the Ocean’s needs and well-being are considered in decisions that affect the health of marine ecosystems and biodiversity. In practice, this could strengthen implementation of States’ obligations to protect and conserve the High Seas by recognizing that human activity must be governed by and respect the Ocean’s intrinsic value and ecological limits.

Additionally, this would promote and align with many Indigenous peoples worldviews, and provide an avenue for increased participation of Indigenous Peoples as those who may represent the Ocean’s interests and needs in decision making under the new agreement.

Indigenous and local communities have been widely excluded and underrepresented in the treaty process, despite supportive nations calling for their direct inclusion and consultation. Just as many Indigenous and coastal peoples have been teaching for millennia, we are in a deeply connected relationship with the Ocean. The Ocean is our source of life and a living sacred entity. For centuries this kinship understanding has guided activities, balancing between the needs of people and the capacity of Ocean. Amplifying diverse understandings of relating to the Ocean, can not only help replace our focus on exploiting the High Seas, but help guide our use and value of the Ocean. 

Ocean Stewardship 

We also commend and support Article 5 to remain in the treaty that calls for the stewardship of the High Seas, “protecting, caring for and ensuring responsible use of the marine environment, maintaining the integrity of ocean ecosystems and preserving the inherent value of biodiversity” (Article 5 k.).

The stewardship principle strengthens States’ responsibility to maintain healthy and thriving Ocean ecosystems on behalf of present and future generations of all life. This means helping States’ adhere to the best available scientific evidence and include the Ocean’s needs in decision making. 

Rather than fulfilling States’ short-term interests, active stewardship requires prioritizing the long-term well-being of the Ocean. In fact, in 2022, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) produced an assessment report on the valuation of Nature, highlighting that, ‘a broader diversity of nature’s values’ should be incorporated into decision making. It additionally finds that the causes of and solutions for our global environmental challenges are tightly linked to the ways in which we value our environments (p.4).

We urge adoption of a treaty this year that recognizes the inherent value, rights and interests of the High Seas and States’ responsibility to conserve. This will signify a turning point from “business as usual” towards living in harmony with Mother Earth. The Ocean needs us to adopt a global vision and treaty that embodies stewardship, care and respect for Ocean health. 

Join ELC in our efforts to encourage governance respect the Ocean’s Rights and interests! 

Read about Ocean Rights

Find Updates on the High Seas Alliance Treaty Tracker

Sign up for the ELC Newsletter

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Rights of Nature, Animals Rights: What’s the Difference?

Rights of Nature, Animals Rights: What’s the Difference?

Though seemingly similar or even interchangeable at first glance, rights of nature and animal rights are concepts that are different in practice, yet do intersect and support each other. As Earth law develops around the world, understanding these perspectives in which rights are viewed is crucial.

Animal Rights: Individuals

The idea of animal rights has long been involved with ideas of animal welfare and protection. This movement stresses that animals have inherent value and don’t exist to be used by humans. Focuses of the animal rights movement might range from tackling the ethics in the consumption or captivity of animals to recognition of human-like cognitive and emotional abilities. Although, this varies significantly among nations, influenced by factors such as their economies, religions, etc.

The Nonhuman Rights Project has also done extensive work in this area, advocating for the legal personhood of animals and the right to not be imprisoned/experimented upon. Mainly, they have helped in cases of mistreatment of chimpanzees and elephants in captivity through petitioning for writs of habeas corpus in challenging the detainment of these animals. One of their longest running cases concerns Happy, an elephant kept alone in the Bronx Zoo (since 1977) who was ruled in June to not be a legal person, though two dissenters stressed Happy’s rights of liberty and autonomy.

Looking at legislation, the recognition of animal sentience is another emerging trend, although this does not go so far as to establish rights for animals. In the UK, the recently passed Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act states that vertebrate animals, along with decapods and cephalopods (e.g. lobsters, octopus) are seen as sentient. This would allow for future considerations of animal welfare in policy development.

Rights of Nature: Ecosystems

Rather than focusing on individual animals and their well-being, the Rights of Nature recognizes the rights of entire ecosystems. This means considering all the biotic and abiotic features and the right of these ecosystems to thrive and flourish without human alteration or damage. Put into action, a focus is on giving ecosystems legal guardianship and personhood.

One example of this is with rights of rivers. To assert these rights, giving rivers legal personhood helps protect them as they can then be represented in court. This has occurred with all the rivers in Bangladesh and the Atrato River in Columbia, and many others. These actions have often been motivated by growing concerns of pollution in the environment and support from Indigenous nations.

Rights of Nature may also be addressed on a larger scale on the national level. Most recently in 2022, with the input and support from Earth Law Center in the drafting process, a law signed by the President of Panama now includes provisions for people and corporations to protect and be able to defend the Rights of Nature, while stressing the ancestral knowledge of Indigenous peoples in this process. Similar laws in Bolivia and Ecuador also reform the way nature is viewed, shifting away from seeing nature as existing for human use.

Interconnectedness is Key

In many ways, the animal rights movement is connected to the Rights of Nature and the two often work towards similar goals. A recent ruling by Ecuador’s Constitutional Court concerning a woolly monkey named Estrellita exemplifies this. The librarian keeping Estrellita had filed a petition for her return after authorities seized and relocated Estrellita to a zoo due to the keeping of wild animals being illegal. The court ruled 7-2 in applying the Rights of Nature to this case. 

While Rights of Nature values overall ecosystem health, considering things such as keystone or invasive species, this case showed that such principles can be applied to animal rights issues too.

As both animal rights and Rights of Nature continue to be relevant and important in today’s world, it is through reconciling them with each other, with regard to human rights movements, that progress will be furthered.

Iceland Announces End to Whaling

By Emma Hynek

In March 2022, Iceland announced an end to the country’s long standing whaling tradition, citing a lack of interest and profit as the reasoning behind the decision. However, once it takes effect in 2024, the impacts will extend far beyond financial. Though not often considered, whales play a critical role in the ocean’s ecosystem, and there is increasing evidence that cetaceans possess high levels of intelligence and sentience. With the end to Iceland’s whale hunting industry nearing, we hope to see further protection and recovery of whale populations.

Whaling History

National Geographic writes that whaling dates back to the 1600s and was a practice that could be found in Iceland, Norway, Japan, and America. Whaling in the United States was banned in 1971, and this year, Iceland announced its plans to allow current whale hunting quotas to expire in 2024, effectively ending the whaling practice in Iceland, and leaving Norway and Japan as the only two countries where whaling is still legal.

BBC reported on Iceland’s decision to ban whaling, saying, "Why should Iceland take the risk of keeping up whaling, which has not brought any economic gain, in order to sell a product for which there is hardly any demand?" Svandis Svavarsdottir wrote on Friday in the Morgunbladid newspaper.”

In 1982, the International Whaling Commission announced a moratorium on whaling, a decision that has helped protect whales to this day. Though whaling still occurs  in Norway and Japan, the moratorium allowed previously hunted whale populations to recover, writes National Geographic. In recent years, as a result of increasing evidence of whale intelligence and sentience, many have pushed for further protections and even the recognition of whales as having legal rights. 

 Why Is Protecting Whales Important?

According to Whale and Dolphin Conservation, “Whales play a vital role in the marine ecosystem where they help provide at least half of the oxygen you breathe, combat climate change, and sustain fish stocks. How do they do it? By providing nutrients to phytoplankton.” These nutrients, specifically iron, nitrogen, and phosphorus, are dispersed through their fecal plumes.

Despite their importance, they still face many threats to their existence. In addition to hunting, “…industrial fishing, ship strikes, pollution, habitat loss, and climate change are creating a hazardous and sometimes fatal obstacle course for the marine species,” states the World Wide Fund for Nature. 

Whaling has also caused whale populations to decrease immensely. This World Economic Forum article details the number of whale species that have been reduced to near extinction through whaling. When whale numbers decline, so does the overall health of the ocean. However, the article also reiterates that the IWC’s moratorium helped to bring whale populations to a healthier number, citing the gray whale as an example of the 1986 moratorium’s success. “The moratorium was largely successful, with the population of Western gray whales increasing from 115 individuals in 2004 to 174 in 2015. The WSA humpback whale, which numbered fewer than 1,000 for nearly 40 years, has recovered to close to 25,000, according to the latest study.”

The Helsinki Group, based in Helsinki, Finland, released a declaration in 2010 calling for the rights of cetaceans to be recognized. The Helsinki Group is just one of many organizations that are dedicated to granting rights to cetaceans. The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has pushed for cetacean rights to be recognized, as have Sonar and ELC.

Next Steps

While there is still work to be done, it is encouraging that a previous ban on whaling created a positive impact. With legal rights for cetaceans not yet in place and whaling set to end in Iceland, now is the time to reinvigorate the fight for the rights of whales and all cetaceans. Earth Law Center has worked for several years to lead initiatives around the world to protect these intelligent, vital creatures, including the Southern Resident Orca campaign, which is a campaign for state recognition of the Southern Resident’s inherent rights to life, which includes the right to life, autonomy, free and safe passage, adequate food supply from naturally occurring sources, and to be free from conditions causing physical, emotional, or mental harm, including a habitat degraded by noise, pollution and contamination.

"If humans are to survive we must re-remember our kinship with Nature and our non-human relatives. This will undoubtedly require changes in the way we do business; opening space for innovations so that we can have a future with clean rivers, ocean and seas, and healthy habitats for humans, animals and plants alike." says Elizabeth Dunne, Director of Legal Advocacy at Earth Law Center.

 ELC’s very own Michelle Bender has also written an e-book on Ocean Rights, which can be found here. We urge you to join our mission to protect the rights of the ocean and the creatures it houses! 

 How You Can Help

·      Click here to learn more about ocean rights. 

·      Click here to donate.

·      Click here to join our team as a volunteer!