Earth Law Center Blog
It’s Time for an Earth Law Textbook
First law textbook on legal movement to establish rights for nature from Earth Law Center. The textbook will be available for university courses and elsewhere. The goal is to train the next generation of rights of nature experts.
Evolving California’s Water Governance
Vast over-allocation of water, with very little (or sometimes none) left for waterways themselves, exceeds California’s actual freshwater supply by about fivefold.
Rights of Nature: A Few Theoretical Considerations
The Rights of Nature movement... is still relatively young, and its proponents are still actively involved in debates about how to best articulate its conceptual framework.
Earth Law Center’s 2017 Was One for the Books
Medicine Bow National Forest, near ELC's new regional office in Boulder, CO
Dams + Climate Change = Bad News
Dams disrupt a waterway's ability to support vital ecosystems. They increase evaporation, and make coastlines vulnerable to storm surges and rising sea levels.
Rights of Nature for the Great Lakes
Over 30 million people rely upon the water from the Great Lakes, which touch eight states, and the Canadian province of Ontario.
Earth Law Center’s Fight to Return Rights to the Ocean
In Spring 2017, ELC launched the Rights of the Ocean Initiative to promote an Earth-centered paradigm in ocean governance.
Mexico on the Vanguard for Rights of Nature
Three rivers in Mexico, the Magdalena, Atoyac and San Pedro Mezquital, face significant threats including pollution and altered flows. A proposed dam would seriously damage the San Pedro Mezquital.
How Earth Law Can Help Cetaceans in Uruguay
The convergence of two major ocean currents turn the waters of coastal Uruguay into a rich ecosystem, and nursery for fish, seabirds, and whales.
Indigenous Perspectives at the Forefront of Environmental Jurisprudence
Earth Law recognizes the worldviews of many indigenous cultures and applies it to legal systems.
Dam Removal to Restore Snake River to Health
The Nez Perce tribe has been calling for the removal of four dams on the Lower Snake River.
Rights of Nature at the International Level
ELC partners with the UN Harmony with Nature to advance a paradigm shift to recognize rights of nature.
Do Dams Violate a River’s Right to Flow?
Once a symbol of ingenuity and engineering prowess, the latest research shows that dams destroy river ecosystems and adversely affect human health and well-being.
Earth Law Clubs at American Universities: Standing on the Shoulders of Giants
Student activism captures media attention, prompting the public to respond to causes. It can shift the paradigm on climate change and policies that are detrimental to the environment.
Building Momentum: Earth Law Center’s Universal Declaration of River Rights
Laws safeguarding the environment have not kept apace with rapidly expanding human activity. Earth has lost more than half its trees since humans first learned to wield an axe. According to the WWF, roughly one-quarter of coral reefs worldwide are considered damaged beyond repair, with another two-thirds under serious threat. The good news is that a solution has appeared, in the form of Earth Law.
Views from ELC’s First International Marine Protected Area Conference
IMPAC4 met in Chile with over 1000 participants from 80 countries, including the Prince of Monaco, President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet and renowned oceanographer, Dr. Sylvia Earle.
How Rights of Nature Will Help Restore Mexico City’s Rivers
Securing rights for nature would mean that rivers have a right to clean water and adequate flows, and ecosystems have a right to integral health free from pollution.
If Corporations Have Rights, Shouldn’t Nature Too?
Despite increased efforts to protect the environment, the destruction continues. To restore balance, nature needs legal rights too. In some places it is already happening.
Ecosystem Based Approach to MPAs
Despite many successes of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), our world's seas and oceans continue to suffer from pollution and degradation. What the seas and oceans need is a paradigm shift so that other species and ecosystem needs are equally important to human ones.
Earth Law Means Rights for All (Including Humans)
"Now, the world at large seems to be rediscovering indigenous wisdom by coming around to the idea that humans are part of a complex whole – not outside and independent of it."