The Guardian UK reports, “Bolivia is set to pass the world’s first laws granting all nature equal rights to humans. The Law of Mother Earth, now agreed by politicians and grassroots social groups, redefines the country’s rich mineral deposits as ‘blessings’ and is expected to lead to radical new conservation and social measures to reduce pollution and control industry.”
“(Bolivia) will establish 11 new rights for nature. They include: the right to life and to exist; the right to continue vital cycles and processes free from human alteration; the right to pure water and clean air; the right to balance; the right not to be polluted; and the right to not have cellular structure modified or genetically altered. Controversially, it will also enshrine the right of nature ‘to not be affected by mega-infrastructure and development projects that affect the balance of ecosystems and the local inhabitant communities’.”
“The law…places the environment and the earth deity known as the Pachamama at the centre of all life. Humans are considered equal to all other entities. …The government is expected to establish a ministry of mother earth and to appoint an ombudsman. It is also committed to giving communities new legal powers to monitor and control polluting industries.”
“Little opposition is expected to the law being passed because President Evo Morales’s ruling party, the Movement Towards Socialism, enjoys a comfortable majority in both houses of parliament.”
And in just two weeks time, on April 21, the Council of Canadians and partners will be launching a new book titled The Rights of Nature: The Case for a Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth in New York. The book includes writings from movement leaders and activists, including Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow, Vandana Shiva, Cormac Cullinan, and Pablo Solon. The book has been produced in partnership with Global Exchange, Navdanya, EnAct International, and Fundacion Pachamama. Barlow recently stated, “We hope that one day a Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth will stand as the companion to the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights as one the guiding covenants of our time.”
Two years ago, on April 22, 2009, Bolivian President Evo Morales called on the United Nations General Assembly to develop a Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth. On December 22 of that year, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution that called on all countries and the Secretary General to share their experiences and perspectives on how to create ‘harmony with nature’. A draft Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth was then developed at the ‘World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth’ in Cochabamba, Bolivia on April 19-23, 2010. That draft declaration was presented to the Secretary General of the United Nations in New York on May 7 of that year. The UN General Assembly session on how to create ‘harmony with nature’, first proposed in April 2009, will take place at the UN General Assembly this April 20.
Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow will be in New York for the book launch and the UN debate. Canadian Perspectives editor Jan Malek will also be present at this historic debate and reporting on the proceedings for us.
