Practical education on Earth law, Rights of Nature, and ecocentric legal principles—designed for lawyers working across legislation, governance, litigation, and advocacy.
Earth Law Education for Lawyers
The triple crisis of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss is increasingly testing the limits of conventional legal frameworks. Earth law and Rights of Nature offer emerging legal approaches that recognize ecosystems as rights-bearing entities and re-examine the relationship between law, people, and the natural world.
For lawyers, this work intersects with real legal questions—from standing and enforcement to governance structures, permitting, regulatory design, and constitutional rights.
Why Earth Law?
Earth Law Center’s education program supports lawyers seeking to:
Understand the legal foundations of Earth law and Rights of Nature
Analyze emerging case law and legislative developments
Explore how ecocentric principles intersect with existing legal systems
Apply new frameworks responsibly within professional practice
Our offerings are created for:
Practicing attorneys
Government lawyers
Public interest and nonprofit counsel
Policy and regulatory professionals
Judges
Law students
Education designed for legal professionals
Earth Law Center Signature Course
Our signature course offers a comprehensive introduction to Earth law and ecocentric legal principles, drawing on real-world cases, emerging legal frameworks, and on-the-ground experience from practitioners and advocates. Offered live each summer and available on demand, the course is designed for lawyers, students, educators, and community members seeking a rigorous yet accessible foundation in Earth law.
Continuing Legal Education (CLE)
Earth Law Center offers CLE-eligible programming for lawyers seeking to deepen their understanding of Earth law while meeting professional education requirements.
CLE content builds on the same rigorous foundation as our courses, with attention to legal relevance, ethics, and professional responsibility.
Earth law textbook
Earth Law: Emerging Ecocentric Law provides a structured, practitioner-informed exploration of Earth law, Rights of Nature, and ecocentric governance across jurisdictions in the U.S. and around the world.
The textbook is used by lawyers, professors, & students to:
Ground theory in legal practice
Support teaching and training
Engage deeply with emerging legal frameworks
Additional resources for legal practice
For lawyers interested in practical legal models and comparative examples, Earth Law Center maintains the Earth Law Portal: an open-access repository of Earth-centered legal templates, ordinances, constitutional provisions, and governance frameworks from jurisdictions around the world.
These resources are designed to support legal research, drafting, and analysis across different practice contexts.
Earth Law Portal
A note on practice and application
Earth Law Center’s education offerings are designed to inform, not prescribe. While they explore emerging legal frameworks and real-world case studies, they do not provide legal advice or substitute for jurisdiction-specific analysis.
Our goal is to expand legal imagination and professional understanding, supporting lawyers as they responsibly engage with evolving approaches to environmental and Earth-centered law.
Earth Law Center’s education program draws on decades of legal advocacy, global casework, and collaborations with communities and educators working to align law with the rights of Nature.
Header & Footer Photos: Unsplash / Ales Krivec ; Center photo: Unsplash / Johannes Andersson