Grant Wilson, Executive Director
“Earth lawyer wanted.” This wasn’t the exact language used, but my career at Earth Law Center (ELC), like many interesting things in life, began in response to an internet advertisement eight years ago. I was a young lawyer who had studied law for the sole purpose of defending nature. The idea of revolutionizing the law so that it worked for all species, not just humans, resonated deeply. I couldn’t wait to start.
I dove right in, learning about the Rights of Nature, Earth jurisprudence, ecological economics, human environmental rights, and other staples of the field. These and other legal movements comprise “Earth law.” When my family asked me to explain it, I would say that currently, environmental law plays defense. For instance, it prevents extinctions and puts some conditions on development. Earth law, on the other hand, plays offense, requiring humans to actually restore Nature to health.
Back then, the idea of Rights of Nature was, compared to today, relatively obscure, with a few victories, such as in Ecuador (2008) and a handful of U.S. communities (beginning in 2006). Of course, Indigenous peoples have for millennia understood that Nature is alive and that humans have a responsibility to protect it. But most Western lawyers—even the idealists—thought that a legal system that enfranchises Nature was simply unrealistic.
I dug in and we kept fighting. Slowly but surely, along with our partners, we started to win. Lawyers, judges, and politicians became educated about the flaws of our current legal system and how we could correct them. Legislation and sweeping court decisions began to recognize the Rights of Nature, now established at some level in at least twelve countries, along with other Earth-centered legal movements. Law journal articles began to pile up. Media took notice. Once the Guardian and the New York Times write about a movement, it becomes real to the average household. We turned a corner and became a force to be reckoned with.
Earth Law Center itself grew from a small team of a few extremely dedicated individuals to a group of dozens of staff, interns, volunteers, and active Board members. Along the way, I witnessed many highs: laws recognizing rights of rivers that ELC had drafted, an “Earth Law” textbook, a new Latin American program, and courtroom wins. I also witnessed lows: fundraising challenges, legal victories that came so close but fell short, and plenty of skepticism.
More recently, I have also enjoyed the opportunity to put my stamp on the organization since I became Executive Director. I took what I learned from two wonderful Executive Directors before me and carried their work forward while making my own mark.
In 2021, I hope to make progress towards two specific goals to continue ELC’s development. My first goal is to strengthen ELC’s status as an equitable and progressive organization. This begins with challenging our own power structures. To this end, I have been working the last six months to envision how ELC can become a horizontal, democratically run organization in order to promote equity and empower a greater diversity of voices. We are nearing completion of this process. Everyone in ELC will become a leader in their own space.
My second goal is to scale our work. This means new partnerships—we cannot do it all alone, and we always welcome collaborators in the space. It also means creating replicable legal models, such as “Rights of Rivers” laws that governments worldwide can customize and adopt, and “Earth law” courses that any law school can teach. It is time to mainstream the movement.
Earth Law Center has come a long way in a short amount of time. We hope that in another ten or twenty years, we can look back at this moment—the start of a new year—as the beginning of something great.