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124-645: Bioneers produces innovative media covering subjects such as environmentalism, rights of nature , social justice, sustainability and permaculture . Bioneers Radio is broadcast on local radio stations across the U.S., as well as having segments featured on national NPR stations. The organization also organizes the annual National Bioneers Conference, which is credited with inspiring a generation of leaders in sustainability . Conference presenters have included Michael Pollan , Andrew Weil , Gloria Steinem , Jane Goodall , Philippe Cousteau , Eve Ensler , Bill McKibben , Paul Hawken , and more. Plenary (Keynote) sessions from

248-917: A Universal Declaration of the Rights of Nature. The Incorporation of the Rights of Nature was adopted at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Hawaii (2016). As of 2021 rights of nature has been reflected in treaties, constitutions, court decisions, and statutory and administrative law at all levels of government. Craig Kauffman, political science professor at the University of Oregon, and scholar of nature's rights and global governance, contends that evolving rights of nature initiatives and networks represent an "important new global movement" arising from "an informal global governance system... being constructed by citizens disillusioned by

372-419: A community to which we belong", rather than "a commodity belonging to us", we can "begin to use it with love and respect". Leopold offered implementation guidance for his position, stating that a "thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise." Berry similarly observed that "whatever preserves and enhances this meadow in

496-583: A connection with nature is so deep that nature is regarded as a living ancestor. From this worldview arises responsibilities to protect nature as one would a family member, and the need for a legal structure that reflects a primary frame of responsibilities to the natural world as kin. However, several scholars have denounced the Indigenous aspects of rights of nature to be a myth, and some have argued that one-sided implementations of rights of nature could be detrimental to indigenous communities. Many of

620-582: A core concept of international environmental discussion ever since, including at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Earth Summit 2002), and the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Earth Summit 2012, or Rio+20). Defined by UNEP to include intergenerational equity – "the right of future generations to enjoy a fair level of the common patrimony" – and intragenerational equity – "the right of all people within

744-797: A country's legal system is completely divorced from its moral values, people may not abide by the laws and they will lose their significance and effectiveness. Despite environmental regulations, the water in India's River Ganges remains poor as an example. According to the International Network for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement (INECE), the major environmental issues in Africa are "drought and flooding , air pollution, deforestation , loss of biodiversity , freshwater availability, degradation of soil and vegetation, and widespread poverty." The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

868-432: A demand for new approaches to development. In conjunction with this need, the principle of "Buen Vivir," or good living – focused on social, environmental and spiritual wealth versus material wealth – gained popularity among citizens and was incorporated into the new constitution. The influence of indigenous groups, from whom the concept of "Buen Vivir" originates, in the forming of the constitutional ideals also facilitated

992-420: A formerly pristine rainforest of extraordinary biodiversity. Asserting that the same human actions that created such impacts violated the fundamental rights of both people and natural systems, it is argued that ethical and legal theories that recognize both sets of rights will better guide human behavior to recognize and respect humans' interconnected relationships with each other and the natural world. As with

1116-451: A foundation for Earth-centered governance, including laws and economic systems that protect the fundamental rights of nature. Second, support for rights of nature also is supported through the utilitarian argument that humanity can only thrive in the long term by accepting integrated co-existence of humans with the natural world. Berry noted that the concept of human well-being derived from natural systems with no fundamental right to exist

1240-552: A further Act to build the London sewerage system . London also suffered from terrible air pollution , and this culminated in the " Great Smog " of 1952, which in turn triggered its own legislative response: the Clean Air Act 1956 . The basic regulatory structure was to set limits on emissions for households and businesses (particularly burning of coal ) while an inspectorate would enforce compliance. Chemical safety laws govern

1364-559: A language that guide behavior away from ecological and social practices that ignore or minimize human-nature interconnections. Court decisions including examples in Ecuador, Colombia and India have relied on these scientific developments in recognizing, interpreting and giving content to the legal rights of nature. Rather than a vision of merely " sustainable development ", which reflects a frame of nature maintained as economic feedstock, scholars supporting rights of nature suggest that society

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1488-508: A larger whole. A more significant criticism is that those laws tend to be subordinate to economic interests, and aim at reacting to and just partially mitigating economics-driven degradation, rather than placing nature's right to thrive as the primary goal of those laws. This critique of existing environmental laws is an important component of tactics such as climate change litigation that seeks to force societal action to mitigate climate change . As of June 2021, rights of nature laws exist at

1612-491: A legal obligation of a clean environment, by establishing a principle of compensation and a foundation of criminal nature. By this phenomenon , Congolese environmental law is situated between non-regression and the search for efficiency." With the enactment of the 2008 Constitution , Ecuador became the first country in the world to codify the Rights of Nature . The Constitution, specifically Articles 10 and 71–74, recognizes

1736-474: A legal structure to collect license fees and other money which is used to fund conservation efforts as well as to obtain harvest information used in wildlife management practice. Environmental law has developed in response to emerging awareness of—and concern over—issues impacting the world. While laws have developed piecemeal and for a variety of reasons, some effort has gone into identifying key concepts and guiding principles common to environmental law as

1860-431: A means for protecting species deemed important for other reasons. Regulatory efforts may include the creation of special conservation statuses , prohibitions on killing, harming, or disturbing protected species, efforts to induce and support species recovery, establishment of wildlife refuges to support conservation, and prohibitions on trafficking in species or animal parts to combat poaching . Fish and game laws regulate

1984-472: A philosophy and ethics of law concept called Earth jurisprudence that identifies the earth's laws as primary and reasons that everything by the fact of its existence, therefore, has an intrinsic right to be and evolve. Earth Jurisprudence has been increasingly recognized and promoted worldwide by legal scholars, the United Nations, lawmakers, philosophers, ecological economists, and other experts as

2108-402: A primary treaty. They exist in many areas of international law but are especially useful in the environmental field, where they may be used to regularly incorporate recent scientific knowledge. They also permit countries to reach an agreement on a framework that would be contentious if every detail were to be agreed upon in advance. The most widely known protocol in international environmental law

2232-399: A reaction to a combination of political, economic, and social phenomena. Ecuador's abusive past with the oil industry , most famously the class-action litigation against Chevron , and the failure of an extraction-based economy and neoliberal reforms to bring economic prosperity to the region has resulted in the election of a New Leftist regime, led by President Rafael Correa , and sparked

2356-561: A reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation . The principle may play a role in any debate over the need for environmental regulation. The polluter pays principle is the idea that "the environmental costs of economic activities, including the cost of preventing potential harm, should be internalized rather than imposed upon society at large." All issues related to responsibility for cost for environmental remediation and compliance with pollution control regulations involve this principle. Environmental law

2480-446: A result of environmental regulations, which can ultimately create an additional barrier to entry for new firms, thus stifling competition and innovation. Global and regional environmental issues are increasingly the subject of international law . Debates over environmental concerns implicate core principles of international law and have been the subject of numerous international agreements and declarations. Customary international law

2604-441: A scientific vision of the world as a self-regulating, complex system, first arose in the 1970s. Systems dynamics similarly began to evolve from a business focus to include socioeconomic and natural systems starting in the 1970s. Since then, scientific disciplines have been converging and advancing on the concept that humans live in a dynamic, relationship-based world that "den[ies] the possibility of isolation". While science in

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2728-516: A universe of infinitely repeated mutual relations, with no one thing dominating. Western religious and philosophical traditions have recognized the context of Earth and universe in providing spiritual guidance as well. From the Neolithic through the Bronze ages, the societies of " Old Europe " revered numerous female deities as incarnations of Mother Earth. In early Greece, the earth goddess Gaia

2852-936: A view of all life as interdependent, and sustainable mutual aid. The first National Bioneers Conference, organized by Co-Founders Kenny Ausubel and Nina Simons , took place in 1990. For many years, the conference was held annually in the fall in San Rafael, California . In 2023, the Bioneers conference moved to Berkeley, California . The national conference brings together a wide array of scientific and social innovators. Conference speakers come from interdisciplinary fields: environmental and socio-political activism; "green" biology , chemistry , design, architecture and urban planning ; organic and "beyond organic" farming and gardening; indigenous perspectives; biodiversity , bioremediation , and wildland preservation ; alternative energy ; engaged spirituality, literature and

2976-427: A way consistent with modern, system-based science, which demonstrates that humans and the natural world are fundamentally interconnected. This school of thought is underpinned by two basic lines of reasoning. First, since the recognition of human rights is based in part on the philosophical belief that those rights emanate from humanity's own existence, logically, so too do inherent rights of the natural world arise from

3100-591: A web of relationships extending back to a shared ancestry confers subject status to all, including the inherent rights associated with that status. Laws based on a recognition of the intrinsic moral value of the natural world, create a new societal moral compass that directs society's interactions with the natural world more effectively toward well-being for all. Scientists who similarly wrote in support of expanded human moral development and ethical obligation include naturalist John Muir and scientist and forester Aldo Leopold . Leopold expressed that "[w]hen we see land as

3224-533: A whole. Some laws are seen as temporary or transitional where political realities prevent adoption of more ideal rules. Pope Francis in his 2015 encyclical letter Laudato si' acknowledged that "political realism may call for transitional measures and technologies, so long as these are accompanied by the gradual framing and acceptance of binding commitments". The principles discussed below are not an exhaustive list and are not universally recognized or accepted. Nonetheless, they represent important principles for

3348-433: Is a continuing source of controversy. Debates over the necessity, fairness, and cost of environmental regulation are ongoing, as well as regarding the appropriateness of regulations versus market solutions to achieve even agreed-upon ends. Allegations of scientific uncertainty fuel the ongoing debate over greenhouse gas regulation, and are a major factor in debates over whether to ban particular pesticides. In cases where

3472-425: Is a legal and jurisprudential theory that describes inherent rights as associated with ecosystems and species, similar to the concept of fundamental human rights . The rights of nature concept challenges twentieth-century laws as generally grounded in a flawed frame of nature as "resource" to be owned, used, and degraded. Proponents argue that laws grounded in rights of nature direct humanity to act appropriately and in

3596-434: Is a worldview of respect for nature, as contrasted with the "nature domination" worldview that underlies the concept of nature as object and property. Indigenous law professor John Borrows observed that "[w]ithin indigenous legal traditions, creation stories... give guidance about how to live with the world", rather than live at odds with it. A 2012 international Declaration of Indigenous Peoples found that modern laws destroy

3720-403: Is an important source of international environmental law. These are the norms and rules that countries follow as a matter of custom and they are so prevalent that they bind all states in the world. When a principle becomes customary law is not clear cut and many arguments are put forward by states not wishing to be bound. Examples of customary international law relevant to the environment include

3844-401: Is argued that such protections fail to stop, let alone reverse, overall environmental decline, because nature is by definition subordinated to anthropogenic and economic interests, rather than biocentric well-being. Rights of nature proponents contend that re-envisioning current environmental laws from a nature's rights frame demonstrates the limitations of current legal systems. For example,

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3968-422: Is beginning to consider visions such as "thriving communities", where "communities" includes nature as a full subject, rather than simply an object to be used. While some rights-of-nature laws grant rights to nature without any duties , others view nature as a legal person with rights as well duties and legal liability . The ethical and philosophical foundation of a nature's rights legal theory and movement

4092-520: Is currently in the process of developing more stringent legal controls. The harmonization of Chinese society and the natural environment is billed as a rising policy priority. Environmental lawsuits have been available in China since the early 2000s. Public protest, however, plays a greater role in shaping China's environmental policy than litigation does. In the Republic of Congo , inspired by

4216-555: Is enforced by the Central Pollution Control Board and the numerous State Pollution Control Boards. Apart from this, there are also individual legislation specifically enacted for the protection of Water, Air, Wildlife, etc. Such legislations include : The Basic Environmental Law is the basic structure of Japan's environmental policies replacing the Basic Law for Environmental Pollution Control and

4340-547: Is focused on the "growing urban and industrial pollution, water quality, electronic waste and indoor air from cookstoves." They hope to provide enough aid on concerns regarding pollution before their impacts contaminate the African environment as well as the global environment. By doing so, they intend to "protect human health, particularly vulnerable populations such as children and the poor." In order to accomplish these goals in Africa, EPA programs are focused on strengthening

4464-422: Is inherently illogical, and that by protecting nature's rights, humans advance their own self-interest. The legal and philosophical concept of rights of nature offers a shift from a frame of nature as property or resource, to nature as an interconnected Earth community partner. This school of thought aims at following the same path that human rights movements have followed, where at first recognition of rights in

4588-412: Is seen as the body of laws concerned with the protection of living things (human beings inclusive) from the harm that human activity may immediately or eventually cause to them or their species, either directly or to the media and the habits on which they depend. Examples of laws designed to preserve the environment for its own sake or for human enjoyment are found throughout history. In the common law ,

4712-503: Is split between private and public management, with public forests being sovereign property of the State. Forestry laws are now considered an international affair. Wildlife laws govern the potential impact of human activity on wild animals, whether directly on individuals or populations, or indirectly via habitat degradation. Similar laws may operate to protect plant species. Such laws may be enacted entirely to protect biodiversity , or as

4836-714: Is summed up by former Senator and founder of Earth Day Gaylord Nelson , "The economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment, not the other way around." Furthermore, environmental issues are seen by many as having an ethical or moral dimension, which would transcend financial cost. Even so, there are some efforts underway to systemically recognize environmental costs and assets, and account for them properly in economic terms. While affected industries spark controversy in fighting regulation, there are also many environmentalists and public interest groups who believe that current regulations are inadequate, and advocate for stronger protection. Environmental law conferences – such as

4960-914: Is the Kyoto Protocol , which followed from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change . While the bodies that proposed, argued, agreed upon, and ultimately adopted existing international agreements vary according to each agreement, certain conferences, including 1972's United Nations Conference on the Human Environment , 1983's World Commission on Environment and Development , 1992's United Nations Conference on Environment and Development , and 2002's World Summit on Sustainable Development have been particularly important. Multilateral environmental agreements sometimes create an International Organization, Institution or Body responsible for implementing

5084-469: Is underpinned by two lines of reasoning: that the same ethics that justify human rights, also justify nature's rights, and, that humans' own survival depend on healthy ecosystems. First, it is argued that if inherent human rights arise from human existence, so too logically do inherent rights of the natural world arise from the natural world's own existence. Human rights, and associated duties to protect those rights, have expanded over time. Most notably,

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5208-517: The 2009 Copenhagen climate negotiations . Just as the U.N. recognized human rights as arising from existence, so did the UDRME find that the "inherent rights of Mother Earth are inalienable in that they arise from the same source as existence". Like the UDHR, the UDRME defends the rights-bearing entity (nature and her elements) from the excesses of governing authorities. These rights include, among others,

5332-565: The U.S. Declaration of Independence , even where essentially non-existent in the law. The successes of past and current human rights movements provide lessons for the current movement to widen the circle of Earth community to include natural systems and species populations as rights-bearing entities. Proponents of a shift to a more environmentally protective system of law contend that current legal and economic systems fail because they consider nature fundamentally as property, which can be degraded for profit and human desire. They point out that

5456-539: The UDHR in 1948 formalized recognition of broad categories of inalienable human rights globally. These include recognition that "[a]ll human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights", that "[e]veryone has the right to life, liberty and security of person", and that "[e]veryone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted". Recognition of fundamental rights in " soft law " instruments such as

5580-626: The " Great Stink " of 1858, the dumping of sewerage into the River Thames began to smell so ghastly in the summer heat that Parliament had to be evacuated. Ironically, the Metropolitan Commission of Sewers Act 1848 had allowed the Metropolitan Commission for Sewers to close cesspits around the city in an attempt to "clean up" but this simply led people to pollute the river. In 19 days, Parliament passed

5704-757: The "Tasmanian Dam Case", was a highly significant case in Australian environmental law. The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 is the centerpiece of environmental legislation in Australia. It sets up the "legal framework to protect and manage nationally and internationally important flora, fauna, ecological communities and heritage places" and focuses on protecting world heritage properties, national heritage properties, wetlands of international importance, nationally threatened species and ecological communities, migratory species, Commonwealth marine areas, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park , and

5828-517: The "ultimate purpose of the Shari'ah " as "the universal common good, the welfare of the entire creation," and note that "not a single creature, present or future, may be excluded from consideration in deciding a course of action." Bringing together Western and Indigenous traditions, Archbishop Desmond Tutu spoke of " Ubuntu ", an African ethical concept that translates roughly to "I am because you are", observing that: "Ubuntu speaks particularly about

5952-569: The 1948 adoption by the United Nations, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) that formalized recognition of broad categories of inalienable human rights. Drafters of the UDHR stated their belief that the concept of fundamental human rights arose not from "the decision of a worldly power, but rather in the fact of existing." Some scholars have contended thereafter that, given that basic human rights emanate from humans' own existence, nature's rights similarly arise from

6076-478: The African models of the 1990s, the phenomenon of constitutionalization of environmental law appeared in 1992, which completed an historical development of environmental law and policy dating back to the years of independence and even long before the colonization. It gives a constitutional basis to environmental protection, which traditionally was part of the legal framework. The two Constitutions of 15 March 1992 and 20 January 2002 concretize this paradigm, by stating

6200-456: The Citizen later recognized as well the "natural, inalienable and sacred rights of Man", adding that the "final end of every political institution is the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of Man." The expansion of rights continued out to animals, with eighteenth-nineteenth century English philosopher and legal theorist Jeremy Bentham claiming that the "day may come when

6324-648: The EU (so called regulations) and many directives that must be implemented into national legislation from the 27 member states (national states). Examples are the Regulation (EC) No. 338/97 on the implementation of CITES; or the Natura 2000 network the centerpiece for nature & biodiversity policy, encompassing the bird Directive (79/409/EEC/ changed to 2009/147/EC)and the habitats directive (92/43/EEC). Which are made up of multiple SACs (Special Areas of Conservation, linked to

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6448-574: The Earth, describing how humans must change their current actions in light of the fact that "a true 'right of the environment' does exist". He warned against humanity's current path, stating that "the deepest roots of our present failures" lie in the direction and meaning of economic growth, and the overarching rule of a "deified market". The Qur’an , Islam's primary authority in all matters of individual and communal life, reflects that "the whole creation praises God by its very being". Scholars describe

6572-514: The Environment . Their duties include "the preservation and enhancement of the quality of the natural environment, including water, air and soil quality ; renewable resources, including migratory birds and other non-domestic flora and fauna; water; meteorology;" The Environmental Protection Act is the main piece of Canadian environmental legislation that was put into place March 31, 2000. The Act focuses on "respecting pollution prevention and

6696-645: The Pacific Regional Environmental Programme (SPREP) is an international organization between Australia, the Cook Islands, FMS, Fiji, France, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, PNG, Samoa, Solomon Island, Tonga, Tuvalu, US, and Vanuatu. The SPREP was established in order to provide assistance in improving and protecting the environment as well as assure sustainable development for future generations. Commonwealth v Tasmania (1983), also known as

6820-493: The U.S. Endangered Species Act prioritizes protection of existing economic interests by activating only when species populations are headed toward extinction. By contrast, a "Healthy Species Act" would prioritize achievement of thriving species populations and facilitate economic systems that drive conservation of species. As another example, the European Union's Water Framework Directive of 2000, "widely accepted as

6944-497: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency , "China has been working with great determination in recent years to develop, implement, and enforce a solid environmental law framework. Chinese officials face critical challenges in effectively implementing the laws, clarifying the roles of their national and provincial governments, and strengthening the operation of their legal system." Explosive economic and industrial growth in China has led to significant environmental degradation , and China

7068-459: The UDHR provided guidance to nations around the world, who have since developed constitutional provisions, statutes, court decisions, regulations, and other bodies of law based on the UDHR and the human rights it champions. Decades later, USC law professor Christopher Stone called for recognition of the legal standing and associated rights of the natural world as well, consistent with the "successive extension of rights" throughout legal history. As

7192-444: The UDRME specifically require humans and their institutions to "recognize and promote the full implementation and enforcement of the rights and obligations recognized in this Declaration". The UDRME addresses enforcement by requiring "damages caused by human violations of the inherent rights" to be "rectified", with those responsible "held accountable".[88] Moreover, it calls on states to "empower human beings and institutions to defend

7316-1097: The Union should enter it to their national law, during 2 years. The Parliament also approved a nature restoration law which obligate members to restore 20% of degraded ecosystems (including 30% of drained peatland) by 2030 and 100% by 2050. Environmental law is rapidly growing in the Middle East. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is working with countries in the Middle East to improve "environmental governance, water pollution and water security, clean fuels and vehicles, public participation, and pollution prevention." The main concerns about environmental issues in Oceania are "illegal releases of air and water pollutants , illegal logging /timber trade, illegal shipment of hazardous wastes , including e-waste and ships slated for destruction, and insufficient institutional structure/lack of enforcement capacity". The Secretariat of

7440-405: The United Nations in 1948. Key to the development of those rights are the concepts of natural rights, and rights of humans emanating from the existence of humanity. Roderick Fraser Nash, professor of history and environmental studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, traced the history of rights for species and the natural world back to the thirteenth century Magna Carta 's launch of

7564-550: The United Nations was another milestone, underpinned by the belief that fundamental human rights arise from "the fact of existing". The movement for rights of nature built on this belief, arguing that if "existence" is the defining condition for fundamental rights, this defining condition could not be limited to the rights of only one form of existence, and that all forms of existence should enjoy fundamental rights. For example, Aldo Leopold 's land ethic explicitly recognized nature's "right to continued existence" and sought to "change

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7688-683: The ability to enforce environmental laws as well as public compliance to them. Other programs work on developing stronger environmental laws, regulations, and standards. The Asian Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Network (AECEN) is an agreement between 16 Asian countries dedicated to improving cooperation with environmental laws in Asia. These countries include Cambodia, China, Indonesia, India, Maldives, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, and Lao PDR. The European Union issues secondary legislation on environmental issues that are valid throughout

7812-627: The agreement. Major examples are the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). International environmental law also includes the opinions of international courts and tribunals. While there are few and they have limited authority, the decisions carry much weight with legal commentators and are quite influential on

7936-470: The annual Public Interest Environmental Law Conference in Eugene, Oregon – typically have this focus, also connecting environmental law with class, race, and other issues. An additional debate is to what extent environmental laws are fair to all regulated parties. For instance, researchers Preston Teeter and Jorgen Sandberg highlight how smaller organizations can often incur disproportionately larger costs as

8060-419: The arts; holistic and "ecological" medicine ; ethnobotany ; socially responsible entrepreneurship, business and philanthropy; the environmental justice , women's and youth movements, independent media , etc. In many cases, the technological or social solutions to problems showcased are founded on emulation of natural self-organizing systems . Rights of nature Rights of nature or Earth rights

8184-537: The concept of " natural rights " that underlies modern rights discourse. Peter Burdon, professor at the University of Adelaide Law School and an Earth Jurisprudence scholar, has expanded upon Nash's analysis, offering that seventeenth century English philosopher and physician John Locke 's transformative natural rights thesis led to the American Revolution , through the concept that the British monarchy

8308-423: The current generation to fair access to the current generation's entitlement to the Earth's natural resources" – environmental equity considers the present generation under an obligation to account for long-term impacts of activities, and to act to sustain the global environment and resource base for future generations. Pollution control and resource management laws may be assessed against this principle. Defined in

8432-771: The development of international environmental law. One of the biggest challenges in international decisions is to determine an adequate compensation for environmental damages. The courts include the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), the European Court of Justice , European Court of Human Rights and other regional treaty tribunals. Previous research found that economic development level and

8556-559: The duty to warn other states promptly about icons of an environmental nature and environmental damages to which another state or states may be exposed, and Principle 21 of the Stockholm Declaration ('good neighborliness' or sic utere). Given that customary international law is not static but ever evolving and the continued increase of air pollution (carbon dioxide) causing climate changes, has led to discussions on whether basic customary principles of international law, such as

8680-454: The early 1970s to address various elements of the natural world, separately from other elements. Some laws, such as the U.S. National Environmental Policy Act , called for a more holistic analysis of proposed infrastructure projects and required the disclosure of expected negative environmental impacts. However, it did not require that actions be taken to address those impacts in order to ensure ecosystem and species health. These laws reflected

8804-553: The earth because they do not respect the "natural order of Creation". The Declaration observed that humans "have our place and our responsibilities within Creation's sacred order" and benefit from "sustaining joy as things occur in harmony with the Earth and with all life that it creates and sustains". Indigenous worldviews align with and have accelerated the development of rights of nature law, including in Ecuador and Bolivia. Ecuador amended its constitution in 2008 to recognize

8928-467: The environment surrounding nuclear activities. However, it has been subject to numerous reviews examining its shortcomings, the latest taking place in mid-2020. The interim report of this review concluded that the laws created to protect unique species and habitats are ineffective. The Brazilian government created the Ministry of Environment in 1992 in order to develop better strategies for protecting

9052-645: The environment, using natural resources sustainably, and enforcing public environmental policies. The Ministry of Environment has authority over policies involving environment, water resources, preservation, and environmental programs involving the Amazon. The Department of the Environment Act establishes the Department of the Environment in the Canadian government as well as the position Minister of

9176-519: The existential threat of climate change . These and other factors supported the development of the 2010 Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth (UDRME). The UDRME was adopted by representatives of 130 nations at the World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth , convened in Bolivia following the concerns of many regarding the disappointing results of

9300-589: The existing human right to water for basic needs, but would also recognize the rights of waterways to adequate, timely, clean water flows, and would define such basic ecological flow needs accordingly. Modern environmental laws began to arise in the 1960s out of a foundational perspective of the environment as best managed in discrete pieces. For example, United States laws such as the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, Endangered Species Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, and numerous others began to be adopted in

9424-418: The fact that you can't exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness... We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole world." Human rights have been developing over centuries, with the most notable outgrowth being the adoption of Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by

9548-576: The failure of governments to take stronger actions to address the dual crises of climate change and biodiversity loss ". Environmental law Environmental laws are laws that protect the environment. Environmental law is the collection of laws, regulations , agreements and common law that governs how humans interact with their environment. This includes environmental regulations ; laws governing management of natural resources , such as forests , minerals , or fisheries; and related topics such as environmental impact assessments . Environmental law

9672-646: The habitats directive) & SPAs (Special Protected Areas, linked to the bird directive), throughout Europe. EU legislation is ruled in Article 249 Treaty for the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Topics for common EU legislation are: In February 2024, the European Parliament adopted a law making a big, intentionally caused, environmental damage “comparable to ecocide ” a crime that can be punished by up to 10 years in prison. The members of

9796-692: The human right to hold and express opinions and to seek, receive and impart ideas,... a right of access to appropriate, comprehensible and timely information held by governments and industrial concerns on economic and social policies regarding the sustainable use of natural resources and the protection of the environment, without imposing undue financial burdens upon the applicants and with adequate protection of privacy and business confidentiality," and "effective judicial and administrative proceedings". These principles are present in environmental impact assessment , laws requiring publication and access to relevant environmental data, and administrative procedure . One of

9920-464: The inalienable rights of ecosystems to exist and flourish, gives people the authority to petition on the behalf of ecosystems, and requires the government to remedy violations of these rights. The rights approach is a break away from traditional environmental regulatory systems, which regard nature as property and legalize and manage degradation of the environment rather than prevent it. The Rights of Nature articles in Ecuador's constitution are part of

10044-490: The incorporation of the Rights of Nature as a basic tenet of their culture and conceptualization of "Buen Vivir." The Environmental Protection Law outlines the responsibilities of the Egyptian government to "preparation of draft legislation and decrees pertinent to environmental management, collection of data both nationally and internationally on the state of the environment, preparation of periodical reports and studies on

10168-469: The inherent moral worth of the potential new rights holders. And, that this expansion of the circle of community ought to continue to grow to encompass the natural world, a position that has seen growing acceptance in the late twentieth century and early twenty-first. Proponents suggest that rights derived from existence in nature do not confer human rights to all beings, but rather confer unique rights to different kinds of beings. Thomas Berry put forth

10292-466: The injured natural entity. In addition to Stone's legal work, other late twentieth and early twenty-first century drivers of the rights of nature movement include indigenous perspectives and the work of the indigenous rights movement; the writings of Arne Naess and the Deep Ecology movement; Thomas Berry's 2001 jurisprudential call for recognizing the laws of nature as the "primary text";

10416-614: The international law context as an obligation to protect one's own environment, and to prevent damage to neighboring environments, UNEP considers transboundary responsibility at the international level as a potential limitation on the rights of the sovereign state . Laws that act to limit externalities imposed upon human health and the environment may be assessed against this principle. Identified as essential conditions for "accountable governments,... industrial concerns", and organizations generally, public participation and transparency are presented by UNEP as requiring "effective protection of

10540-525: The jus cogens (peremptory norms) and erga omnes principles could be applicable for enforcing international environmental law. Numerous legally binding international agreements encompass a wide variety of issue-areas, from terrestrial, marine and atmospheric pollution through to wildlife and biodiversity protection. International environmental agreements are generally multilateral (or sometimes bilateral ) treaties (a.k.a. convention, agreement, protocol, etc.). Protocols are subsidiary agreements built from

10664-420: The late twentieth century shifted to a systems-based perspective, describing natural systems and human populations as fundamentally interconnected on a shared planet, environmental laws generally did not evolve with this shift. Reductionist U.S. environmental laws passed in the early 1970s remained largely unchanged, and other national and international environmental law regimes similarly stopped short of embracing

10788-406: The laws of nature, explaining that "the universe is a communion of subjects, not a collection of objects". From the scientific perspective that all life arose from the context of the universe, Berry offered the ethical perspective that it is flawed to view humans as the universe's only subjects, with all other beings merely a collection of objects to be owned and used. Rather, consideration of life as

10912-619: The local to national levels in 39 countries, including dozens of cities and counties throughout the United States. They take the form of constitutional provisions, treaty agreements, statutes, local ordinances, and court decisions. A state constitutional provision is being sought in Florida. Proponents of rights of nature argue that, just as human rights have been recognized increasingly in law, so should nature's rights be recognized and incorporated into human ethics and laws. This claim

11036-662: The material force that flows through humans, nature, and universe. As the eleventh century pioneering Neo-Confucianist philosopher Zhang Zai explained, "that which extends throughout the universe I regard as my body and that which directs the universe I consider as my nature". In both Hinduism and Buddhism, karma ("action" or "declaration" in Sanskrit ) reflects the reality of humanity's networked interrelations with Earth and universe. Buddhist concepts of "co-dependent arising" similarly hold that all phenomena are intimately connected. Mahayana Buddhism's " Indra's Net " symbolizes

11160-487: The modern science of systems. Nineteenth century linguist and scholar Edward Payson Evans , an early rights of nature theorist and author of "the first extensive American statement of (...) environmental ethics ", wrote that each human is "truly a part and product of Nature as any other animal, and [the] attempt to set him up on an isolated point outside of it is philosophically false and morally pernicious". Thomas Berry proposed that society's laws should derive from

11284-463: The most commonly encountered and controversial principles of environmental law, the Rio Declaration formulated the precautionary principle as follows: In order to protect the environment, the precautionary approach shall be widely applied by States according to their capabilities. Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as

11408-543: The most substantial and ambitious piece of European environmental legislation to date", relies on a target of "good status" of all EU waters, which includes consideration of needed "ecological flows". However, decades after the Directive's adoption, despite scientific advances in identifying flow-ecology relationships, there remains no EU definition of "ecological flow", nor a common understanding of how it should be calculated. A nature's rights frame would recognize not only

11532-565: The national conference are also webcast to Beaming Bioneers satellite conferences held simultaneously in various locations throughout the United States and Canada . Bioneer (root: "biological pioneer") is a neologism coined by founder Kenny Ausubel . It describes individuals and groups working in diverse disciplines who have crafted creative solutions to various environmental and socio-cultural problems rooted in shared core values, including whole systems , ( anticipatory ) thinking,

11656-473: The nations' moral value affected environmental regulation compliance. Developed countries like the US, EU, and Australia are urging for better laws targeting the reduction of harmful environmental impacts. It is worth noting that there is a direct correlation between economic development and the distance between law and ethics. Developed countries have a closer relationship between environmental laws and moral values. If

11780-421: The natural cycles of its transformation is good; what is opposed to this meadow or negates it is not good." Physician and philosopher Albert Schweizer defined right actions as those that recognize a reverence for life and the "will to live". The outgrowth of scientific and ethical advances around natural systems and species is a proposed new frame for legal and governance systems, one grounded in an ethic and

11904-445: The natural world's own existence. A second and more pragmatic argument asserts that the survival of humans depends on healthy ecosystems, and so protection of nature's rights in turn, advances human rights and well-being. From a rights of nature perspective, most environmental laws of the twentieth century are based on an outmoded framework that considers nature to be composed of separate and independent parts, rather than components of

12028-468: The ownership and use of water resources , including surface water and ground water . Regulatory areas may include water conservation , use restrictions, and ownership regimes. Forestry laws govern activities in designated forest lands , most commonly with respect to forest management and timber harvesting . Forestry laws generally adopt management policies for public forest resources, such as multiple use and sustained yield . Forest management

12152-442: The perspective of nature as primarily an economic resource already has degraded some ecosystems and species so significantly that now, prominent policy experts are examining "endangered species triage" strategies to decide which species will be let go, rather than re-examine the economics driving the degradation. While twentieth and twenty-first century environmental laws do afford some level of protection to ecosystems and species, it

12276-443: The primary protection was found in the law of nuisance , but this only allowed for private actions for damages or injunctions if there was harm to land. Thus, smells emanating from pigsties , strict liability against dumping rubbish, or damage from exploding dams. Private enforcement, however, was limited and found to be woefully inadequate to deal with major environmental threats , particularly threats to common resources. During

12400-619: The protection of the environment and human health in order to contribute to sustainable development." Other principle federal statutes include the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act , and the Species at Risk Act . When provincial and federal legislation are in conflict federal legislation takes precedence, that being said individual provinces can have their own legislation such as Ontario's Environmental Bill of Rights , and Clean Water Act . According to

12524-623: The publication of Cormac Cullinan 's Wild Law book in 2003, followed by the creation of an eponymous legal association in the UK; growing concern about corporate power through the expansion of legal personhood for corporations ; adoption by U.S. communities of local laws addressing rights of nature; the creation of the Global Alliance of the Rights of Nature in 2010 (GARN; a nonprofit advancing rights on nature worldwide); and mounting global concerns with species losses, ecosystem destruction, and

12648-405: The recognition of human rights, legal scholars find that recognition of the rights of nature alters the framework of human laws and practices. Harvard Law professor Laurence Tribe theorized further that "choosing to accord nature a fraternal rather than an exploited role... might well make us different persons from the manipulators and subjugators we are in danger of becoming". The adoption of

12772-498: The recognition that "Mother Earth and all beings of which she is composed have... the right to life and to exist" as well as the "right to integral health". The UDRME adds that "[e]ach being has the right to a place and to play its role in Mother Earth for her harmonious functioning". Just as the rights protected by the UDHR are enforceable by the "right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals", so too does

12896-410: The rest of the animal creation may acquire those rights which never could have been withholden from them but by the hand of tyranny". Nineteenth-century linguist and scholar Edward Payson Evans observed that: [i]n tracing the history of the evolution of ethics we find the recognition of mutual rights and duties confined at first to members of the same horde or tribe, then extended to worshippers of

13020-410: The right to pursue and take or kill certain kinds of fish and wild animal ( game ). Such laws may restrict the days to harvest fish or game, the number of animals caught per person, the species harvested, or the weapons or fishing gear used. Such laws may seek to balance dueling needs for preservation and harvest and to manage both environment and populations of fish and game. Game laws can provide

13144-589: The rightless appeared "unthinkable", but later matured into a broadly-espoused worldview. Christopher Stone, a law professor at the University of Southern California, wrote extensively on this topic in his seminal essay, "Should Trees Have Standing", cited by a U.S. Supreme Court dissent in Sierra Club v. Morton for the position that "environmental issues should be tendered by [nature] itself." As described by Stone and others, human rights have increasingly been "found" over time and declared "self-evident", as in

13268-413: The rights of Mother Earth and of all beings". Bolivian President Evo Morales urged then-U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to make U.N. adoption of the UDRME a priority. While that recommendation remains to be addressed, since then the UDRME has served to inform other international and national efforts, such as a 2012 Resolution by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) proposing

13392-630: The rights of nature and human rights, including indigenous rights, with the same action". For example, in the Ecuadorian Amazon , pollution from Texaco's (now Chevron ) oil drilling operations from 1967 to 1992 resulted in an epidemic of birth defects, miscarriages, and an estimated 1,400 cancer deaths, that were particularly devastating to indigenous communities. These operations further caused more than one million acres of deforestation and polluted local waterways with 18 billion gallons of toxic wastewater and contaminants, severely damaging

13516-501: The rights of nature in light of the perceived need to better protect and respect Pachamama , a term that embodies both the physical and the spiritual aspects of the natural world. Bolivia similarly amended its constitution and enacted nature's rights statutes to reflect traditional Indigenous respect for Pachamama, and a worldview of natural systems and humans as part of one family. New Zealand law professor Catherine Iorns Magallanes observed that traditional Indigenous worldviews embody

13640-403: The role of Homo sapiens from conqueror of the land-community to plain member and citizen of it". Proponents of the rights of nature also contend that from the abolition of slavery , to the granting of the right to vote to women , to the civil rights movement , and the recognition of other fundamental rights, societies have continued to expand rights in parallel with a growing acceptance of

13764-440: The same gods, and gradually enlarged so as to include every civilized nation, until at length all races of men are at least theoretically conceived as being united in a common bond of brotherhood and benevolent sympathy, which is now slowly expanding so as to comprise not only the higher species of animals, but also every sensitive embodiment of organic life. The 1948 adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by

13888-515: The science is well-settled, it is not unusual to find that corporations intentionally hide or distort the facts, or sow confusion. It is very common for regulated industry to argue against environmental regulation on the basis of cost. Difficulties arise in performing cost–benefit analysis of environmental issues. It is difficult to quantify the value of an environmental value such as a healthy ecosystem, clean air, or species diversity. Many environmentalists' response to pitting economy vs. ecology

14012-430: The science of the time, which was grounded in a reductionist analysis of the natural world; the modern, system-based understanding of the natural world, and the integrated place of humans with it, was still in development. The first major textbook on ecological science that described the natural world as a system rather than a collection of different parts, was not written until 1983. The Gaia Hypothesis , which offered

14136-524: The similar existence of nature, and so humans' legal systems should continue to expand to recognize the rights of nature. Some notable proponents of this approach include U.S. cultural historian Thomas Berry , South African attorney Cormac Cullinan , Indian physicist and eco-social advocate Vandana Shiva , and Canadian law professor and U.N. Special Rapporteur for Human Rights and the Environment David R. Boyd . Thomas Berry introduced

14260-549: The state of the environment, formulation of the national plan and its projects, preparation of environmental profiles for new and urban areas, and setting of standards to be used in planning for their development, and preparation of an annual report on the state of the environment to be prepared to the President." In India , Environmental law is governed by the Environment Protection Act, 1986. This act

14384-460: The theory that rights "are species specific and limited"; that is, "rivers have river rights", "birds have bird rights", and "humans have human rights". In his view, the difference is "qualitative, not quantitative". Extending this point, the common ethical and moral grounding of human rights and the rights of nature gives rise to the concept of "co-violations" of rights, defined as a "situation in which governments, industries, or others violate both

14508-820: The understanding of environmental law around the world. Defined by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs," sustainable development may be considered together with the concepts of "integration" (development cannot be considered in isolation from sustainability) and "interdependence" (social and economic development, and environmental protection, are interdependent). Laws mandating environmental impact assessment and requiring or encouraging development to minimize environmental impacts may be assessed against this principle. The modern concept of sustainable development

14632-576: The universe as primary, stating that "The order of the universe is the ultimate and noblest perfection in things." More recently, Pope Benedict XVI , head of the Catholic Church , reflected that, "[t]he obedience to the voice of Earth is more important for our future happiness... than the desires of the moment. Our Earth is talking to us and we must listen to it and decipher its message if we want to survive." His successor, Pope Francis , has been particularly vocal on humanity's relationship with

14756-465: The use of chemicals in human activities, particularly human-made chemicals in modern industrial applications. As contrasted with media-oriented environmental laws (e.g., air or water quality laws), chemical control laws seek to manage the (potential) pollutants themselves. Regulatory efforts include banning specific chemical constituents in consumer products (e.g., Bisphenol A in plastic bottles), and regulating pesticides . Water resources laws govern

14880-407: The world's other religious and spiritual traditions offer insights consistent with a nature's rights worldview. Eastern religious and philosophical traditions embrace a holistic conception of spirituality that includes the Earth. Chinese Daoism and Neo-Confucianism , as well as Japanese Buddhism , teach that the world is a dynamic force field of energies known as bussho ( Buddha nature or qi ),

15004-510: Was a topic of discussion at the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (Stockholm Conference), and the driving force behind the 1983 World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED, or Bruntland Commission). In 1992, the first UN Earth Summit resulted in the Rio Declaration , Principle 3 of which reads: "The right to development must be fulfilled so as to equitably meet developmental and environmental needs of present and future generations." Sustainable development has been

15128-416: Was denying colonists their natural rights. Building on that concept, U.S. President, attorney, and philosopher Thomas Jefferson argued that the "laws of nature and of nature's God" reveal "self-evident" truths that "all Men are created equal" in their possession of "certain unalienable rights", particularly "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". The 1789 French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of

15252-411: Was done in the UDHR, Stone outlined the necessary elements of nature's participation in human legal systems, describing such a legal system as necessarily including: recognition of injuries as subject to redress by public body, standing to institute legal actions (with guardians acting on behalf of the natural entity), redress calculated for natural entity's own damages, and relief running to the benefit of

15376-484: Was worshipped as a supreme deity. In the Philebus and Timaeus , Plato asserted that the "world is indeed a living being endowed with a soul and intelligence (...) a single visible living entity containing all other living entities, which by their nature are all related". Medieval theologian St. Thomas Aquinas later wrote of the place of humans, not at the center of being, but as one part of an integrated whole with

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