Rights of Mother Earth
Universal Declaration on Rights of Mother Earth
Alongside our partners, we are asking the UN to formally engage in drafting and adopting a Declaration of Rights of Mother Earth to complement the Human Rights Declaration. A Declaration acknowledging Nature as a living being, deserving of rights and protection just like humans.
Under current law, Nature is treated as a commodity and has no standing in court. This void in the law is at the core of the depletion and destruction endured by Nature today and must be corrected.
We propose the UN use the Universal Declaration of Rights of Mother Earth from the people’s conference in Cochabamba as inspiration when drafting the UN Declaration of Rights of Mother Earth. This Declaration includes the wisdom and knowledge of people from ancient and modern societies from around the world and points the way to aligning our laws and ways of living with those of Nature.
Sign the Global Petition
Today’s legal systems facilitate economics without any consideration to Nature. Since nature is unprotected under the law, except as property, environmental law can only carve out some protection programs for endangered species and their habitat. This is not enough to protect Nature, it is a system that does not work anymore.
Nature being an object/property has several undesirable consequences that make it practically impossible for citizens to protect nature using the law (eg. planning courts, endangered species system can't keep pace with extinction rates. If there is no relationship = no obligations/duty of care, law of tort - can only get monetary compensation for human loss - no obligation to restore nature). How “rights” changes this: RoN is a framework of law that includes legal personality, duty of care and ecological governance.
Therefore we ask for a systemic change in the legal structures, a change that will also include giving rights to Nature, not only to Humans and entities created by humans.
With Rights of Nature included in the legal structure, it would provide for an economy in harmony with Nature, based on a fair legal system that includes all stakeholders.
Earth Law Center is proud to support the ongoing efforts of Rights of Mother Earth and partners to build support for this landmark declaration.
Partners
Header Photo: Unsplash / Nasa