Earth Law Center

Earth Law Center
Abbreviation ELC
Formation 2008
Type NGO
Purpose Recognizing and promoting the rights of nature
Headquarters San Francisco Bay Area, California
Location
  • Fremont, California
Key people
 Linda Sheehan, Executive Director
Website earthlawcenter.org

Earth Law Center (ELC) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Fremont, California, which aims to educate and advocate for laws and policies that recognize and promote the rights of nature to exist, thrive and evolve.[1] Members of the group believe that recognizing and implementing the rights of nature in law is necessary to begin to reverse what they regard as a trend of environmental degradation, and that current environmental laws have been unable to solve this.[2]

Rights of Nature

Earth Law Center and partner groups around the world are involved in a movement to recognize the rights of nature.[3] Earth Law Center asserts that the overarching legal system generally treats the natural world as property that can be exploited and degraded, rather than as an ecological partner with its own rights to exist and thrive.[4] They further assert that environmental regulations in turn accept this overarching system and assume that the environment will be protected if humans take from it a little less, and a little less quickly, but that this will simply slow, and never stop, environmental degradation.[5][6] The rights of nature movement contends that the value and rights of the natural world arise from the fact of its existence.[7] Several notable legal instruments incorporate nature's rights, including the 2008 Constitution of Ecuador, which recognizes the inalienable rights of ecosystems to exist and flourish and allows for citizens to enforce these rights,[8] and Bolivia's Law of the Rights of Mother Earth[9] and subsequent Framework Law on Mother Earth and Integral Development for Living Well,[10] which recognize legal rights for Mother Earth.[11][12]

Activities

Earth Law Center works at the local, regional, state, and international levels to promote the rights of nature. At the local level, Earth Law Center worked closely with the City of Santa Monica Task Force on the Environment and other stakeholders to develop a city ordinance on rights of nature,[13] which was unanimously passed by the Santa Monica City Council as the Sustainability Rights Ordinance.[14]

At the state level, Earth Law Center works to advance new California policies and governance systems that recognize the rights of rivers and other waterways to flow, and the rights of marine ecosystems and species to thrive in biodiversity.[15] Earth Law Center also works with local advocates in an ongoing effort to amend Vermont's Constitution to recognize and protect the rights of nature.[16]

At the international level, along with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and invited panelists, Earth Law Center addressed the United Nations on Earth Day 2013, at the "Interactive Dialogue of the General Assembly on Harmony with Nature to Commemorate Mother Earth Day."[17] At this conference, Earth Law Center discussed alternative economic approaches, such as ecological economics, that further what the ELC regards as a more ethical relationship with the Earth, and which rhey assert are consistent with recognition of the rights of nature.[18] Earth Law Center also emphasizes the inherent connection between humans and the environment generally; for example, their interactive Map of Human and Environmental Rights Violations documents what they describe as "co-violations" of human and environmental rights worldwide.[19]

Leadership

Linda Sheehan is the Executive Director of Earth Law Center. She has worked on environmental law and policy issues for over 20 years, primarily focused around California water issues. She writes and speaks extensively on the rights of nature, including a TEDxMarin talk on the rights of nature[20] and an address before the United Nations General Assembly.[21] For her work successfully advancing federal and state legislation, policy, and litigation initiatives on clean water, marine protection, and other environmental issues, such was named a California Coastal Hero by the California Coastal Commission and Sunset Magazine.[22]

History

Earth Law Center was first established as the Center for Earth Jurisprudence, Inc. in 2008 to support new “Earth Jurisprudence” programs at law schools, including Barry University School of Law in Orlando, Florida. The organization expanded its mission in 2010 to become Earth Law Center, which now drafts and promotes new laws and policies, as well as law school and other university curricula, that advance the rights of nature.[23]

Partners

Earth Law Center works with coalitions and organizations on rights of nature issues at the local, state, national, and international levels, including the following:[24]

References

  1. ↑ "Mission, Vision & History". Earth Law Center. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  2. ↑ Jacobs, Jeremy P. (Aug 15, 2013). "Battle-Tested Lobbyist Wants to Win Legal Rights for Nature". E&E Publishing.
  3. ↑ Mark, Jason (Spring 2012). "Natural Law". Earth Island Journal.
  4. ↑ "What is "Rights of Nature"?". Earth Law Center. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  5. ↑ "Law". Earth Law Center. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  6. ↑ See, e.g., U.N. Environment Programme (July 6, 2012). "World Remains on Unsustainable Track Despite Hundreds of Internationally Agreed Goals and Objectives".
  7. ↑ Cormac, Cullinan (2010). "The Legal Case for the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth" (PDF).
  8. ↑ "Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador (2008)".
  9. ↑ "Ley Corta de Derechos de la Madre Tierra (Law of the Rights of Mother Earth)" (in Spanish). 2010.
  10. ↑ "Ley Marco De La Madre Tierra y Desarrollo Integral Para Vivir Bien (Framework Law on Mother Earth and Integral Development for Living Well)" (in Spanish). 2012.
  11. ↑ Achtenberg, Emily (Nov 16, 2012). "Earth First? Bolivia’s Mother Earth Law Meets the Neo-Extractivist Economy". North American Congress on Latin America.
  12. ↑ See also, Vidal, John (Apr 10, 2011). "Bolivia Enshrines Natural World's rights With Equal Status for Mother Earth". The Guardian.
  13. ↑ Mark Gold; Linda Sheehan (April 11, 2013). "Sustainability Bill of Rights: A New Paradigm to Protect Environment and People". The Huffington Post.
  14. ↑ Rohit, Parimal M. (Mar 15, 2013). "Santa Monica Sustainability Rights Passed At City Council". Santa Monica Mirror.
  15. ↑ "Rivers to Oceans". Earth Law Center.
  16. ↑ "Vermont Rights of Nature Campaign Seeks Constitutional Amendment (Press Release)". VTDigger. Dec 12, 2012.
  17. ↑ "Interactive Dialogue of the General Assembly on Harmony With Nature". United Nations. April 22, 2013.
  18. ↑ Sheehan, Linda (April 22, 2013). "Caring for Home through Nature’s Rights" (PDF). Interactive Dialogue of the General Assembly on Harmony with Nature.
  19. ↑ "Violations of Rights". Earth Law Center.
  20. ↑ "'Earth Jujitsu’: Escaping the Climate Chokehold by Adapting to Nature’s Rights". TEDxMarin. 2013.
  21. ↑ "Interactive Dialogue of the 67th Session of the United Nations General Assembly on Harmony with Nature to Commemorate International Mother Earth Day (Programme)" (PDF). United Nations. April 22, 2013.
  22. ↑ "Sunset Magazine and the California Coastal Commission Announce the 2009 Coastal Heroes Awards (Press Release)". Reuters. Aug 31, 2009.
  23. ↑ "Mission, Vision & History". Earth Law Center.
  24. ↑ "Earth Community". Earth Law Center. Retrieved 28 March 2014.

External links

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